Category Archives: Legal News

PCA Summary of FDA’s Proposed New Requirements for Tobacco Product Manufacturing Practices

OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS FOR THE PREMIUM CIGAR ASSOCIATION

PCA Summary of FDA’s Proposed New Requirements for Tobacco Product Manufacturing Practices

 

[Washington, DC — Tue, March 14, 2023] The Premium Cigar Association has completed its initial analysis of the Proposed Rule for Tobacco product Manufacturing Practices published in the Federal Register on March 10th, 2023. The nearly 300-page document contains several provisions that will affect the “business of specialty tobacco retailing” both domestically in the United States and commerce internationally. Because a federal court has held that the FDA acted arbitrarily and capriciously in deeming premium cigars subject to the Act, it is the PCA’s position that FDA lacks jurisdiction to apply this rule to premium cigars. The PCA will urge the agency, and if necessary, the courts, to make clear that the proposed rule should not, cannot, and will not reach premium cigars. Furthermore, the proposed rule has several fundamental flaws in it that would inordinately harm smaller manufactures and lead to overall market contraction that would limit the products offered on retail shelves.

 

This is an economically significant rule that aims to apply a combination of standards used in the pharmaceutical and foods industries to tobacco products. This rule is far reaching in that it sets standards on international companies producing tobacco products and threatens to block importations of these products if the factories do not comply with widespread mandates that range from environmental standards to requiring the use of certain building materials. If the rule were to be implemented as written, you could expect the boutique cigar factories to be hit the hardest as well as producers of pipe tobacco.

 

The association is convening a working group of premium cigar manufactures and discussing the specifics of the proposed rule with our legal and regulatory teams to discuss the best course of action. The comment period will be open for at least 180 days and the association will be submitting a comment or comments. The scope of the comment(s) will be determined in the coming days after the proposed rule is fully vetted by relevant stakeholders and feedback is solicited/analyzed.

Menifee Valley Little League President, CJ Bruner; a Convicted Gambling Enforcer – Retaliates Against Coach and Player

Bruner is alleged to have violated the civil rights of a popular championship winning coach and all-star player and the Board of Directors and District 28 – led by Richard Piqueno – engage in a code of silence alleged to have cause irreparable harm

Menifee, California –

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On 4/23/22, Tommy Sevilla’s Menifee Valley Little League’s Majors Division Dodgers, played the Angels, a team led by League President – CJ Bruner. That game was a disaster to the Dodgers on account of the disrespectful and aggressive behavior of Dodger parents, Johnny and Alisha Osornia, who have been the subject of official Western Region Little League Baseball Appeals (case numbers: Western Region Case 508107 and 507282) and are Defendants in Sevilla’s impending lawsuit, alleging that Johnny Osornia, with foresight of malice, slandered Coach Sevilla in the presence of board members, parents, Sevilla’s players, wife and children, causing them emotional distress and a subsequent campaign of retaliation and cruel punishment by League President, CJ Bruner and the Menifee Valley Little League Board of Directors.

On that day, Sevilla alleges that Alisha Osornia, a friend of his wife and his pitch counter at all previous games and one he considered an alternate coach for her extensive knowledge and zeal for the game, was visibly angry and disrespectful, controlling her son from the stands and encouraging him to be disrespectful to his Manager, Sevilla, and at one time even walking up to the dugout, standing directly behind Coach Sevilla and stating, “Fuck the bullshit son, you do what you do. Don’t let anyone else tell you what to do. Fuck the bullshit, you just do what you do.” Later in the game, Alisha Osornia, according to Sevilla and his wife, Melodie Sevilla, would deny having an attitude and acting in such a manner when Coach Sevilla had enough of the game and team being affected by Mrs. Osornia and her son’s bad attitude towards him, and cause a scene behind the backstop after calling her son to the backstop and exclaiming, “What did he say to you son?!”, after Sevilla put her son at the Pitcher position and had a mound conference with him. After trying to understand why she showed up in such a foul mood, according to Tommy and Melodie Sevilla, Alisha Osornia, raised her voice and was saying to Coach Sevilla, as he walked away, “Don’t put words in my mouth, don’t put fucking words in my mouth”, after Coach Sevilla raised the issue of her using profanities while speaking to her son directly behind Coach Sevilla. Alisha Osornia’s husband, Johnny Osornia, a friend of Coach Sevilla, would then intervene by walking up and saying out loud, “What’s going on over here?!,” and to which Coach Sevilla, already back in the dugout would walk up to Johnny Osornia and state, “you tell me what’s going on, Johnny, your wife is disrespecting me and the game. Your son is disrespectful to me today and she’s telling him to be like that.” Johnny Osornia would then loudly and oddly exclaim in the presence of at least 2 dozen people made up of Sevilla’s wife and children, parents, coaches, board members, other children and players, a very disturbing and slanderous comment about Coach Sevilla’s wife. Sevilla, stunned, would ask him what he meant by that and why did he say such a thing and to which Johnny Osornia would later admit to League President, CJ Bruner, according to Tommy Sevilla’s wife, Melodie Sevilla, that he said that what he said was not true, was all he could think of at that moment and that he only said that to “make him mad”..

Coach Sevilla would immediately order the Osornia’s to leave and told them that they were no longer part of the Dodgers team but what would follow adds to the slander and adds to Sevilla’s legal claims against the League and the Osornia’s. However, the game would be called a forfeit on account of the Osornia’s disruption and League President, Bruner, would call a meeting of the Dodgers Coaches at Manager Sevilla’s home, that would focus on the Dodgers and an allegedly abusive Dodgers Coach – Destrian Vallejo – the subject of numerous parent complaints throughout multiple seasons whereby angry parents complained that Vallejo, would pick on their kids, would belittle and discourage them and punish them physically to the point of no longer believing they were good baseball players and to the point of quitting and not wanting to play baseball anymore; facts that League President, CJ Bruner was well aware of historically and seemed poised to finally do something about it. However, Sevilla’s longtime assistant coaches would suddenly and repeatedly make excuses to not attend the meeting in Sevilla’s Home Cigar Lounge, where all have been to repeatedly throughout the past few years, especially Coach Vallejo, and these coaches, according to Sevilla and based upon information and belief, would disparage him to the League President and parents and turn against their friend and Manager, Sevilla, making him the focus, especially Coach Destrian Vallejo, who was to be removed that day as an Assistant Coach due to his repeated history of allegations of physical and emotional abuse towards the Dodgers players.

“This is when the campaign of retaliation and the code of silence began,” states Sevilla. Cj Bruner, then the Board, then the District and Region, would act in misconduct and they would collude and band together, causing repeated ongoing and significant emotional injury to his player son and family.

League President, CJ Bruner, would falsely claim that Sevilla willingly resigned as Manager when Bruner, according to Sevilla, unilaterally removed him as Manager without notice, due process and without cause and when Sevilla attempted to remove allegedly abusive Coach, Destrian Vallejo from his coaching staff, suddenly, Bruner wouldn’t allow it, claiming that Vallejo’s removal could only come as a “Board action” and that Vallejo had “due process rights and would have to appear before the Board and despite a documented history of written complaints from parents, group chat conversations and personal oral conversations; all of which League President Bruner was immediately aware of as they were lodged, according to Sevilla and his documents.

“Why wasn’t I afforded ‘due process rights’ and get to appear before the ‘Board’ like CJ stated Vallejo would have to? Why wasn’t I ever notified of a secret Board action removing me as Manager for cause, according to Western Region Administrator, Kit Golden, and why, to this very day, have I not been told what that cause was?! I have never even received a disciplinary action in my 4 seasons of coaching. CJ told my wife that year in and year out I am the most requested Coach by the parents, and I win championships. My players are repeatedly dropped off at my house and spend time with my kids. i have brought them into wrestling and football and the ‘Sevilla Train”, as it’s affectionately known, runs all over town picking up my kids (i.e., players) taking them to football and baseball practice. The Osornia’s are who caused a disturbance on May 23rd and I’m not the coach who has repeatedly been accused of being physically and emotionally abusive by multiple parents over multiple seasons – what in the hell did I do wrong and what in the hell did my son and family do to deserve this?! Menifee Little League does not value my volunteerism or that of others and have shown themselves to be child abusers by not protecting these kids from coaches accused of abuse and by abusing my own son by what they have subsequently done to him.”

Sevilla’s legal claims would go on to document how his written and oral complaints to Menifee Little League and subsequently, District 28 Administrator – Richard Piqueno, a Western Regional Administrator – Kit Golden, and multiple faxes to Little League International, urgently complaining about “ongoing irreparable harm” to his son and other players would be ignored in a code of silence and that Menifee Valley Little League’s campaign of retaliation would be, in effect, endorsed, supported and strengthened by Little league’s refusal to intervene.

Allegedly abusive Coach, Destrian Vallejo, would be promoted to Manager after Menifee Valley League President, CJ Bruner, unilaterally and later codified by a Board hearing and action that Sevilla was not made aware of and not invited to participate in.

Based upon information and belief, Dodgers Coaches: Siaosi “George” Uhila and Destrian “Joe” Vallejo – Sevilla’s longtime assistants – would collude with League President Bruner and remove Sevilla and his wife, a Menifee Little League Board Member, appointed by Bruner to help unseat and lessen the power and ultimately remove a married couple who sits on the Executive Board, who is considered to be tyrannical and bad for the League, according to a former Executive Board Member and others, and would delete Sevilla and his wife from the GroupMe team group chat, change practice locations, and remove the Sevilla’s from all League communications with 3 games left in the regular season going into the playoffs tournament.

Sevilla asks, “who gave the order to remove us from League communications; change practice locations and deem my son ineligible or not worthy of All-Stars? Why didn’t the Board punish Coach George Uhila and Coach Joe Vallejo for plotting a revolt against me and my son? Why weren’t the Osornia’s banned or punished for their dissention and slander? How come not a single Board Member investigated this matter or contacted us, even my wife, a fellow Board Member? If my son was shut out by CJ, Coach Joe and George, from the final 3 games and tournament, how can they now claim he, on his own, didn’t meet the minimum number of games for All-Stars?”

“Cutting us off as parents from all League and Team communications; effectively shutting my son out of Little League Baseball and planning to walk off the field and forfeit the game if my son showed up to play, could only have come by the authority of CJ and Robert Holman – schedular and communications person for the League and based upon information and belief, other Executive Board Members led by Coach Joe and Coach George; why the other parents would consent to such a thing is disgusting and they too should be ashamed. Yet, no discipline was meted out to the Osornia’s for causing all of these problems, nor has Coach Vallejo or Uhila been punished for organizing this planned revolt that unquestionably would’ve cause great emotional harm and permanent damage to my undeserving son. The League, the District and the Region knew about it before it was allowed to happen and their response was to be witness it happen; we, as parents, were unwilling to subject our son to such egregious harm and shielded him from it yet, I have abundant written proof of Little League’s failure to act proactively; failure to punish the offenders and their deliberate indifference towards these matter in their totality leading up to this still traumatic event and after this stunt.”

Sevilla states in his complaint that despite this planned revolt that he was unwilling to subject his son to; his son being shut out of the remainder of the season by the coaches and League officials, his son not being invited to participate in League ending festivities, it’s team party and not receiving his team award like all other players did, Sevilla’s son was also disrespected and retaliated against by not being selected for the All-Star team and based upon information and belief, was either intentionally not chosen by collusion of those on the All Star Committee or was left of the selection board entirely by Player Agent, Melodie Morse, the self-professed “Queen of Little League” and she who in an email, told Coach Sevilla that he could resign from the League when he asked a question about the Draft process for Assistant Coach, Joe Vallejo.

“My son is without question, the best all-around athlete in the Majors Division and a top player in that division and the League. He was batting over .600 with more than 40 stolen bases. He had just hit for the Cycle and had multiple home runs on the season, including a Grand Slam. He regularly takes the ball to the fence and can steal his way home. Hi on base percentage, slugging percentage are video game like. As a Pitcher, when he’s on it, and when Chad Morse isn’t umpiring, he’s unhittable. He’s a quiet, unassuming, humble, respectful kid; a coach’s dream and CJ begged me to not coach all-stars so that he can have him on his all-stars team yet, they did him dirty. Menifee All Stars and Little League is an absolute political circus made up of vindictive ego maniacs. One of the Board Members kids hates baseball according to a former executive board member and is forced to play. This poor kid, below average in skill, is a perennial al star not because of his skill, but because of Mom and Dad. Bruner’s kid, other Board Members kids; they all make the ALL STARS and not a single one of them that I know of and have seen play or have coached, are of that skill set, with the exception of my son, whose accomplishments you can read about all over the Internet and speak for itself. Even my own Coaches kids, who hit below or at .100, repeatedly strike out and can barely catch or throw the ball, made the team this year after maliciously snubbing my deserving son who works harder than any kid I know or have ever coached in my 40 years of coaching youth sports.”

Menifee Valley Little League, a non-profit affiliated with the global entity, Little League International, is ultimately governed by the national body of the international entity, more closely by the Regional and District offices and all bodies are sworn to a codified Little League Code of Conduct, for both parents, coaches, administrators and athletes, that in part states:

“…The essential elements of character-building and ethics in sports are embodied in the concept of sportsmanship and six core principles: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Good Citizenship. The highest potential of sports is achieved when competition reflects these ‘six pillars of character’.”

Superseding these rules and principles of behavior, meant to foster a safe and productive organization environment and experience for young athletes is the laws of American and specifically, California society, says former Popular and Championship Winning-Menifee Valley Little League Manager, Tommy Sevilla, who in a lawsuit prepared for filing in the Central District Court of the United States, which alleges both State and Federal Civil Rights Violations against him and his family, particularly, his minor child, one of the League’s top players, who is alleged to have suffered on-going irreparable harm, with foresight of malice, by his former Assistant Coaches: Siaosi “George” Uhila, Destrian “Joe” Vallejo, League President – CJ Bruner, Regional Administrator – Kit Golden, District 28 Administrator – Richard Piqueno, and the Menifee Valley Little League Executive Board: Chad Morse, Melody Morse, John Dreher, Troy De Leon, Kristin Kelly, Robert Holman and Amy Frahn, who all are alleged to have conducted themselves with a deliberate indifference, foresight of malice toward him, his son and family, and in a campaign of retaliation endorsed by Administrators Richard Piqueno and Kit Golden, who allegedly, willingly failed to intervene and stop the on-going harm and who allegedly failed to enforce league rules, the Code of Conduct and who allegedly failed to protect the Plaintiff’s civil rights.

“The Menifee Valley Little League Executive Board and especially President and Player Agent – Melodie Morse, Coaches: Destrian Vallejo and George Uhila, as well as malicious and disrespectful parents: Johnny and Alisha Osornia, have engaged in classic ‘little league politics’ and have as a result, caused emotional harm to me, my wife and my minor children and especially my son, by virtue of malicious slander, petty retaliation for exercising our right to free speech and by thoroughly violating our civil rights and that of our minor children. Additionally, Little League Administrators have also violated our civil rights by failing to act and by in effect, endorsing the malicious and disgusting actions of Menifee Valley Little League. As their parents, and as a youth sports coach of many years and an executive board member who sits on many youth athletics boards, I refuse to allow someone, anyone, cause harm to my children and family without defending them. The cruel and unusual punishment towards me and my son; the total deprivation of due process rights and the humiliation they have cause us all, will not be left to stand. It’s sickening and pathetic how this privileged, white, executive board of vicious narcissists who bite and devour one another and stab each other in the back as a matter of strategy, would come together against me and us and violate every principle and rule that Little League Baseball stands for and ultra-aggressively seek to harm a 10 year old Majors Division Player; a perennial All-Star and unquestionably, one of the top players in the League, by cruelly punishing him, exposing him to harm and refusing to protect him and subjecting him to a campaign of retaliation, while at the same time, protecting the offenders. It’s mind-boggling and each and every one of these board members and coaches should resign and face the consequences of their actions, as they’ve had every opportunity to do the right thing but have foolishly and maliciously refused to”

According to Sevilla, Bruner is an illegitimate League President according to Little League policies; he is a convicted gambling enforcer who was sentenced to federal prison and he is a disgrace to the League:

Read FBI Press Release here:

“Beyond the requirements of league administration, the league president is also the face of your local Little League program and personify the best public image in reflection to the community at large and all of Little League. Each league president should take an active role in gaining support and winning friends and supporters for the league program.”

Sevilla states, “CJ Bruner has lied and mislead the Executive Board about these matters and should immediately resign or be removed by the Board.”

CFPB ISSUES CREDIT REPORTING GUIDANCE DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 1, 2020

MEDIA CONTACT:
Office of Communications
Tel: (202) 435-7170

CFPB ISSUES CREDIT REPORTING GUIDANCE DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) today released a policy statement outlining the responsibility of credit reporting companies and furnishers during the COVID-19 pandemic.  In response to the pandemic, many lenders are being flexible when it comes to consumers’ making payments.  The Bureau’s statement underscores that consumers benefit if lenders report accurate information about these arrangements to credit bureaus so that the credit reports of consumers are accurate.

“During this time of uncertainty, we are providing clarity to ensure the consumer reporting industry can continue to function,” said Director Kraninger.  “Consumers rely on their credit report to purchase a new car, their new home, or to finance their college education.  An effective consumer reporting system is critical in promoting fair and efficient access to credit in the consumer financial services market.”

As lenders continue to offer struggling borrowers payment accommodations, Congress last week passed the CARES Act.  The Act requires lenders to report to credit bureaus that consumers are current on their loans if consumers have sought relief from their lenders due to the pandemic.  The Bureau’s statement informs lenders they must comply with the CARES Act.  The Bureau’s statement also encourages lenders to continue to voluntarily provide payment relief to consumers and to report accurate information to credit bureaus relating to this relief.  The continuation of reporting such accurate payment information produces substantial benefits for consumers, users of consumer reports, and the economy as a whole.

In addition, in response to staffing and resources constraints on lenders and credit bureaus due to the pandemic, the Bureau’s statement also provides flexibility for lenders and credit bureaus in the time they take to investigate disputes.   The Bureau specifically states that it does not intend to cite in an examination or bring an enforcement action against firms who exceed the deadlines to investigate such disputes as long as they make good faith efforts during the pandemic to do so as quickly as possible.

Earlier this month, the Bureau provided consumers with resources to protect their credit.  The Bureau’s blog outlines the steps consumers should take if they cannot make a payment, how to dispute inaccurate information on their credit report, and how to obtain a free copy of their credit report.  The blog can be found here.

Statement on Supervisory and Enforcement Practices Regarding the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Regulation V in Light of the CARES Act.

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a 21st century agency that helps consumer finance markets work by regularly identifying and addressing outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome regulations, by making rules more effective, by consistently enforcing federal consumer financial law, and by empowering consumers to take more control over their economic lives.  For more information, visit consumerfinance.gov.

Judicial Watch Victory: Federal Court Orders Deposition of Hillary Clinton on Emails and Benghazi Attack Records

March 02, 2020 | Judicial Watch

Judicial Watch Victory: Federal Court Orders Deposition of Hillary Clinton on Emails and Benghazi Attack Records

Court: ‘It is Time to Hear Directly from Secretary Clinton’

(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch today announced that U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth granted Judicial Watch’s request to depose former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about her emails and Benghazi attack documents. The court also ordered the deposition of Clinton’s former Chief of Staff, Cheryl Mills and two other State Department officials.

Additionally, the court granted Judicial Watch’s request to subpoena Google for relevant documents and records associated with Clinton’s emails during her tenure at the State Department.

The ruling comes in Judicial Watch’s lawsuit that seeks records concerning “talking points or updates on the Benghazi attack” (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:14-cv-01242)). Judicial Watch famously uncovered in 2014 that the “talking points” that provided the basis for Susan Rice’s false statements were created by the Obama White House. This Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit led directly to the disclosure of the Clinton email system in 2015.

In December 2018, Judge Lamberth first ordered discovery into whether Secretary Clinton’s use of a private email server was intended to stymie FOIA; whether the State Department’s intent to settle this case in late 2014 and early 2015 amounted to bad faith; and whether the State Department has adequately searched for records responsive to Judicial Watch’s request. The court also authorized discovery into whether the Benghazi controversy motivated the cover-up of Clinton’s email. The court ruled that the Clinton email system was “one of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency.” The State and Justice Departments continued to defend Clinton’s and the agency’s email conduct.

Judge Lamberth today overruled Clinton’s and the State and Justice Department’s objections to limited additional discovery by first noting:

Discovery up until this point has brought to light a noteworthy amount of relevant information, but Judicial Watch requests an additional round of discovery, and understandably so. With each passing round of discovery, the Court is left with more questions than answers.

Additionally, Judge Lamberth said that he is troubled by the fact that both the State Department and Department of Justice want to close discovery in this case:

[T]here is still more to learn. Even though many important questions remain unanswered, the Justice Department inexplicably still takes the position that the Court should close discovery and rule on dispositive motions. The Court is especially troubled by this. To argue that the Court now has enough information to determine whether State conducted an adequate search is preposterous, especially when considering State’s deficient representations regarding the existence of additional Clinton emails. Instead, the Court will authorize a new round of discovery

With respect to Clinton, the court found that her prior testimony, mostly through written sworn answers, was not sufficient:

The Court has considered the numerous times in which Secretary Clinton said she could not recall or remember certain details in her prior interrogatory answers. In a deposition, it is more likely that plaintiff’s counsel could use documents and other testimony to attempt to refresh her recollection. And so, to avoid the unsatisfying and inefficient outcome of multiple rounds of fruitless interrogatories and move this almost six-year-old case closer to its conclusion, Judicial Watch will be permitted to clarify and further explore Secretary Clinton’s answers in person and immediately after she gives them. The Court agrees with Judicial Watch – it is time to hear directly from Secretary Clinton.

“Judicial Watch uncovered the Clinton email scandal and we’re pleased that the court authorized us to depose Mrs. Clinton directly on her email conduct and how it impacted the people’s ‘right to know’ under FOIA,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

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Sevilla Local Media

Judicial Watch Sues State Department for Text Messages of Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin

March 10, 2020 | Judicial Watch

Judicial Watch Sues State Department for Text Messages of Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin

(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the State Department for all text and other electronic messages of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin after discovering an email that strongly suggests Clinton used text messages for official business (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:20-cv-00441)).

In January 2020, Judicial Watch released emails that included an August 2011 email from Abedin to Clinton stating: “Sent you a couple of text messages.” The email was among other emails that had only recently been found by the FBI and produced to the State Department. Last week, a federal court criticized the State and Justice Departments for providing no explanation about how these emails were found at this late date:

State failed to fully explain the new emails’ origins when the Court directly questioned where they came from.

Judicial Watch filed its recent FOIA lawsuit after the State Department denied any responsive records exist in response to two January 2020 FOIA requests for:

All text messages, encrypted app messages and instant messages involving official government business sent or received by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton from January 1, 2009 through February 1, 2013.
All text messages, encrypted app messages and instant messages involving official government business sent or received by former Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin from January 1, 2009 through February 1, 2013.

“Where are Hillary Clinton’s text messages?” asked Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Judicial Watch uncovered the hidden Clinton emails and now we’ve uncovered that Secretary Clinton and her top aide Huma Abedin used text messages.”

In March 2020, U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth granted Judicial Watch’s request to depose Clinton about her emails and Benghazi attack documents. The court also ordered the deposition of Clinton’s former Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills and two other State Department officials.

Additionally, the court granted Judicial Watch’s request to subpoena Google for relevant documents and records associated with Clinton’s emails during her tenure at the State Department.

Clinton repeatedly stated that the 55,000 pages of documents she turned over to the State Department in December 2014 included all of her work-related emails. In response to a court order in another Judicial Watch case, she declared under penalty of perjury that she had “directed that all my emails on clintonemail.com in my custody that were or are potentially federal records be provided to the Department of State, and on information and belief, this has been done.”

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Judicial Watch: Lawyers for Hillary Clinton Ask Appeals Court to Overturn Order for Her Deposition

March 13, 2020 | Judicial Watch
Judicial Watch: Lawyers for Hillary Clinton Ask Appeals Court to Overturn Order for Her Deposition

(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch announced today that lawyers for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her former Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills have asked the Court of Appeals to overturn a U.S. District court order granting Judicial Watch’s request for their depositions about Clinton’s emails and Benghazi attack records. Lawyers for Clinton and Mills filed a “Petition for Writ of Mandamus” earlier today.

The Clinton request comes in Judicial Watch’s lawsuit that seeks records concerning “talking points or updates on the Benghazi attack” (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:14-cv-01242)). Judicial Watch famously uncovered in 2014 that the “talking points” that provided the basis for Susan Rice’s false statements were created by the Obama White House. This Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit led directly to the disclosure of the Clinton email system in 2015.

On March 3, 2020, Judge Lamberth granted Judicial Watch’s request to depose Clinton about her emails and Benghazi attack documents. The court also ordered the deposition of Mills and two other State Department officials. Additionally, the court granted Judicial Watch’s request to subpoena Google for relevant documents and records associated with Clinton’s emails during her tenure at the State Department.

In December 2018, Judge Lamberth first ordered discovery into whether Secretary Clinton’s use of a private email server was intended to stymie FOIA; whether the State Department’s intent to settle this case in late 2014 and early 2015 amounted to bad faith; and whether the State Department has adequately searched for records responsive to Judicial Watch’s request. The court also authorized discovery into whether the Benghazi controversy motivated the cover-up of Clinton’s email. The court ruled that the Clinton email system was “one of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency.” The State and Justice Departments continued to defend Clinton’s and the agency’s email conduct.

Judge Lamberth overruled Clinton’s and the State and Justice Department’s objections to limited additional discovery by first noting:

Discovery up until this point has brought to light a noteworthy amount of relevant information, but Judicial Watch requests an additional round of discovery, and understandably so. With each passing round of discovery, the Court is left with more questions than answers.

Additionally, Judge Lamberth said that he is troubled by the fact that both the State Department and Department of Justice want to close discovery in this case:

[T]here is still more to learn. Even though many important questions remain unanswered, the Justice Department inexplicably still takes the position that the court should close discovery and rule on dispositive motions. The Court is especially troubled by this. To argue that the Court now has enough information to determine whether State conducted an adequate search is preposterous, especially when considering State’s deficient representations regarding the existence of additional Clinton emails. Instead, the Court will authorize a new round of discovery…

With respect to Clinton, the court found that her prior testimony, mostly through written sworn answers, was not sufficient:

The Court has considered the numerous times in which Secretary Clinton said she could not recall or remember certain details in her prior interrogatory answers. In a deposition, it is more likely that plaintiff’s counsel could use documents and other testimony to attempt to refresh her recollection. And so, to avoid the unsatisfying and inefficient outcome of multiple rounds of fruitless interrogatories and move this almost six-year-old case closer to its conclusion, Judicial Watch will be permitted to clarify and further explore Secretary Clinton’s answers in person and immediately after she gives them. The Court agrees with Judicial Watch – it is time to hear directly from Secretary Clinton.

“This desperate act is yet another attempt by the Clinton machine to delay truth and accountability for her email conduct and how it impacted the people’s ‘right to know’ under FOIA,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

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PRESS RELEASE: Discrimination Alleged Against Under Armour and Riverside Under the Lights Flag Football Franchise, Specific to a 6-Year Old Type 1 Diabetic Girl Flag Football Player – Gracie Sevilla; Department of Justice Complaint Filed

January 15, 2020

 

For Immediate Release:

Contact: Tommy Sevilla (951) 289-1710

Sevilla Local Media

tommy@sevillalocalmedia.com

 

Discrimination Alleged Against Under Armour and Riverside Under the Lights Flag Football Franchise, Specific to a 6-Year Old Type 1 Diabetic Flag Football Player Girl – Gracie Sevilla; Department of Justice Complaint Filed

A Federal complaint was filed against the multi-national sports apparel and equipment company – Under Armour, and the Under the Lights Flag Football Franchise, alleging that the local league – Riverside Under the Lights, headed by Cory Wells and the parent league; a Florida based company headed by ex-Arena Football League Quarterback, John Kaleo, willfully discriminated against a person with a qualifying disability – Gracie Sevilla, age 6.

The Complaint, a precursor to a Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit, alleges that a willful and malicious discrimination against a person with a qualifying disability under The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131-12134, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, occurred and is currently under review by the Department of Justice.

In May 2019, Gracie Sevilla, a 6 year old standout flag football player on her father, Tommy Sevilla’s K-2 Under Armour Friday Night Lights – Riverside Steelers – 7 on 7 Flag Football Team, was blatantly refused “reasonable accommodation” to play in the Steelers playoff game(s) by League Commissioner, Cory Wells, after such was requested by her coach and father and her mother, Melodie Sevilla, in writing.

 

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Gracie, as a Type 1 Diabetic, wears a Dexcom G6 continuous glucose monitoring device (“CGM”) affixed to her thigh, while playing sports and otherwise. The device has a small filament that penetrates the skin’s fluid just below the epidermis and reads her blood glucose level every 5 seconds, rendering a cumulative reading every 5 minutes, that if high or low, signals alarms. The alarms then allow the parent or caregiver ample time to treat the life-threatening high or low.

For a Type 1 Diabetic, a blood sugar level reading that is too high or low causes a multitude of ill symptoms and leads to a diabetic coma then death when not treated in a timely manner.

The receiving medical device must be within 10 yards of Gracie at all times or a signal loss will occur and no potentially life-saving reading will be given. Gracie’s River Springs Charter School nurse, teacher and school campus proctor are others who have the app downloaded on their personal cell phones for monitoring, alerts, treatment and emergency care.

Type 1 Diabetes is an incurable autoimmune disorder of the Pancreas whereby the Pancreas stops producing life-saving Insulin necessary to survive and metabolize carbohydrates. Type 1 Diabetics like Gracie, must receive Insulin via needle injections into the skin; on average, Gracie receives 10-15 Insulin injections per day.

Commissioner and League Owner, Cory Wells, after barring Gracie’s father from coaching in the Playoffs, due to a personal dispute with him over Wells’ failure to address the misconduct of a rival coach that lead to a near riot on the football field with parents and coaches, and ensure the safety of his players and others for the upcoming playoffs, Gracie’s coach and Father, in an email, advised Wells that he was obligated under Federal law to have either Gracie’s mother or trained medical personnel on the field with the receiving device (within 10 yards of Gracie) to allow Gracie to play, to which Wells’ scoffed at the request.

Commissioner/Owner Wells, in an email, arrogantly refused the request by Gracie’s parents; dismissed the ADA provision and mandate for a “reasonable accommodation” and brashly welcomed threatened complaints and impending lawsuit(s).

In further retaliation toward Gracie and her parents an unprecedented league-wide email. Cory Wells, stated that no unauthorized persons would be admitted on to the field and that the gate would be locked and security tight; a specific reference to Gracie coach and father, Tommy Sevilla, as well as her mother, who could have taken her coach and father’s spot on the field with the receiving device and thus allowing her to play.

Cory Wells, the league commissioner, was well aware of Gracie being a Type 1 Diabetic. Gracie Sevilla was the youngest player in his league for the second season in a row, the only girl, and the only Type 1 Diabetic; one who had brought great positive publicity to his league, receiving local, regional, national and International media coverage associated with her being a unique young female athlete playing Football with Type 1 Diabetes.

Statement from Under Armour Friday Night Lights Coach, Tommy Sevilla, father to Luke and Gracie Sevilla:

“It is mind-boggling that a person in such a position that Corey Wells is in, purporting to operate a youth sports franchise for kids with a pure motive, acted in such a manner, proving clearly that it’s all about money and he has no regard for the safety and welfare of the kids in his league both from a security and health standpoint.

As a father himself he should no better and to scoff at Gracie’s condition and legitimate request for a reasonable accommodation, he must have a dark, arrogant soul.

Yet, how shameful is it of Under Armour and Under the Lights also, to have responded as they have!

John Kaleo, is an arrogant, cocky jerk and Eric Ogbogu, totally turned his back on the issue after handing it over to Kaleo, showing that Under Armour simply passed the buck and has no regard for Gracie or other Type 1 Diabetics.

We, as a family, rock Under Armour gear and have supported the Brand for years. It is unbelievable for John Kaleo to state that their (Under Armour) “team of lawyers”  assured him that this was not discriminatory, nor a civil rights violation and much less an ADA issue. It is utterly shameful and insensitive; an example of corporate greed and human disconnect.

Gracie was supposed to just play without medical supervision, signal loss from her medical device whereby we have no idea what her blood glucose level was?!

How hard was it to allow Melodie, Gracie’s mom on the field, in my place, with the receiver, to monitor her blood sugar level and treat her accordingly?!

The actions of Under the Lights, Under Armour and Cory Wells has been arrogant, proud and an absolute affront to children with disabilities; a complete and utter contradiction to what they claim their brands’ stand for and they owe, at minimum, a contrite and sincere apology to Gracie, and to all like her who without proper medical supervision and treatment, can die suddenly.

Unbelievable how it has come to this, how they have robbed this little girl and her loyal brother, who refused to play without his sister, Dad and coach on the field, of a playoff and National Championship Tournament experience, all on account of Cory Wells’ deliberate indifference, sickening arrogance and blatant disregard for a young girl with a life threatening illness.

Pathetic.”

The Federal Complaint against Cory Wells, alleges that Wells retaliated against Gracie and her parents with foresight of malice, because he was angry with her father (the team’s Head Coach for the second year in a row) for him having complained about Wells’ unfair treatment to Under Armour seeking their intervention.

When Under Armour was contacted about the situation, Eric Ogbogu, a former Dallas Cowboy, passed the issue along to John Kaleo, the Friday Night Lights Franchise Founder and Owner, who mocked and dismissed Gracie’s situation and its relevance to the American with Disabilities Act, both showning a deliberate indifference toward accommodating a person with a qualifying disability; Gracie Sevilla, a 6-year old Type 1 Diabetic girl football player.

In attempt to appease Gracie’s father and coach, John Kaleo, extended an invitation to Tommy Sevilla, the Steelers coach, for them to compete in Under Armour’s National Championship Tournament, since Gracie, nor her brother, Luke Sevilla, the teams star quarterback and player, couldn’t compete in the league’s playoffs to qualify fairly for the tournament; the Steelers would would fail to advance without Luke, Gracie and Coach Tommy on the field and barely have enough players to field a team. However, this was an insincere invitation as it  would be impossible for Sevilla to field a team due to the negative fallout surrounding the original near riot incident and Commissioner Wells’ steadfast refusal to share the leagues other coaches’ contact information, so as to allow Coach Sevilla to invite the league’s other players to join his National Championship team, thus making the invitation to compete of no value.

Kaleo refused to intervene in Wells’ retaliation and assist Sevilla in adding players to his team, and it was learned that Wells, in fact, helped the opposing coach (the one who committed the original misconduct) form a team by adding the league’s best players from other teams to his team; the very thing requested by Sevilla.

Previous to this ADA violation, the previous Fall Season of the Riverside Under Armour League, Wells, and the Hillcrest High School Football Coach and Athletic Director, scoffed at and refused to remedy a situation whereby, spectators to the Under Games were forced to park in the lower student parking lot and walk up a steep grade, several hundred yards to steep steps that lead to the football field. This unreasonable trek prevented elderly persons and persons with physical disabilities from accessing the field. Wells failed to address the issue of the gate, which lead to the upper parking lot and access ramps/stairs, being locked, which forced all spectators, including the disabled, to make the long, challenging trek up the steep grade.

The Hillcrest High School Football Coach and Athletic Director, believing he had called Wells to complain about the “woman” who complained about the situation, actually called her, and began the phone call by disparaging the complaining party.

A long email thread substantiating the allegations against Under the Lights and Under Armour exist and upon exhaustion of administrative remedy, a Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit will be filed against Under Armour, the Under the Lights Football Franchise (John Kaleo) and Cory Wells’ corporation that is associated the league, as well as specific persons in their individual capacities, for a deliberate indifference toward Gracie Sevilla, a person/athlete with a Federally recognized physical disability.

Gracie Sevilla has continued to play sports without such retaliation and discrimination since the incident, excelling as an infielder and pitcher with Jurupa Valley Little League, thriving as a Quarterback with the Corona Friday Night Lights Flag Football League with her father Tommy as Head Coach, and most recently in Gymnastics.

Brother Luke Sevilla, would subsequently, lead his Ohio State Buckeyes Team to the Corona Friday Night Lights – Sophomore Silver Division League Championship, with his father as Coach.

Gracie will be joining the 3G Wrestling Team out of La Verne, California, a team her brother, Luke, currently competes with, and will also begin her training as a Boxer with the Jurupa Valley Boxing Club, where her father sits on the Board of Directors.

It is believed that she would become the only and youngest female wrestler and boxer with USA Boxing and USA Wrestling.

Gracie has been featured as a Type 1 Diabetic Athlete in International, National and Local news sources, both in print and on television.

Gracie has a website and You Tube channel in development; website currently points to her GoFundMe page created for Type 1 Diabetes Awareness and fundraising for a specially trained Diabetic Alert Dog: http://GraceForTheCure.org and http://GracieSevilla.com

 

consumer

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU RELEASES REPORT ON THIRD-PARTY DEBT COLLECTIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 18, 2019

MEDIA CONTACT:
Office of Communications
Tel: (202) 435-7170

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU RELEASES REPORT ON THIRD-PARTY DEBT COLLECTIONS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) released a report today that found that more than one-in-four consumers with a credit report have at least one debt in collection by third-party debt collectors.

Today’s report, which covers 2004 to 2018, is drawn from the Bureau’s Consumer Credit Panel (CCP), a nationally representative sample of approximately 5 million de-identified credit records maintained by one of the three nationwide credit reporting companies. Close to 900 third-party debt collectors furnished collection tradelines in the CCP. A tradeline is information about a consumer account that is sent, generally on a regular basis, to a credit reporting company. Tradelines contain data such as account balance, payment history, and status of the account.

Today’s findings show that more than one-in-four consumers (28 percent) with a credit report in the CCP in 2018 had at least one third-party collections tradeline on their file. The study also found that more than three-out-of-four third-party collections tradelines are for non-financial debt. More than half (58 percent) of these tradelines are for medical debt and another 20 percent for telecommunications or utilities debt. Positive payment information is generally not furnished for medical or telecommunications debt.

Banks and other original creditors may collect their own debts or hire third-party debt collectors. In some instances, the original creditors may sell the debts to debt buyers. The buyers may try to collect on these debts, or hire other third-party debt collectors. There are approximately 9,330 debt collectors and debt buyers in the United States.

“Market Snapshot: Third-Party Debt Collections Tradeline Reporting” can be found at: https://content.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/research-reports/market-snapshot-third-party-debt-collections-tradeline-reporting/

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a 21st century agency that helps consumer finance markets work by regularly identifying and addressing outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome regulations, by making rules more effective, by consistently enforcing federal consumer financial law, and by empowering consumers to take more control over their economic lives. For more information, visit consumerfinance.gov.

country music press release

PRESS RELEASE: Valley Fever Prisoners Appeal to the Supreme Court

Valley Fever Prisoners Appeal to the Supreme Court

Fatal Valley Fever Fungus

Washington, DC (Law Firm Newswire) July 5, 2019 – 117 prisoners appealed to the US Supreme Court on Friday in an action challenging California’s failure to move them out of harm’s way during a 2004-2014 valley fever epidemic in Central California. The disease ravaged the population in two facilities, Pleasant Valley State Prison and Avenal State Prison. The lead defendant in the action is former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. His administration did nothing.

In cases that are not fatal, it causes a continuum of adverse health complications starting with impediments to breathing (such as choking, coughing blood and feelings of suffocation), skin lesions, erosion of bones and joints, blindness, and colonization of other organs particularly in the spine and brain. Death is usually by some form of meningitis.

During the epidemic, contraction rates spiked to 600 times the danger level experienced in the rest of the state. These risks were consistently 10-50 times higher than the surrounding geographical area, known as the “hyperendemic zone,” which was already itself 10 times more dangerous than other areas of the state.

Nevertheless, Governor Schwarzenegger’s administration did nothing, affirmatively ignoring the recommendations of its own health experts. As a result, over the course of 10 years, the disease infected thousands of people. Today, the plaintiff pool reports mass health devastation.

Half of the infected inmates have been released and are now private American citizens. These former prisoners have families and otherwise lead a reformed life. They paid their debt to society. But they are saddled for life with management, hospitalizations, medication side effects, and other complications. The state incurred a debt to them and it has not been paid.

Prisoner lawsuits began in 2007 in federal court in Fresno, California. The US Supreme Court’s 1993 decision in Helling v. McKinney, 509 U.S. 25, 33-34 clearly requires officials to protect prisoners from diseases, or upon such failure, to compensate them for the resulting medical expenses and misery. The epidemic here represents a textbook case of cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

As a result of their inaction, approximately $100 million of taxpayer money was wasted in treating valley fever cases that could have been prevented. California prison management has repeatedly been cited by the courts for its failure to run a safe and efficient operation, especially in the area of prisoner over-crowding and medical care. The medical system was placed under receivership in 2005 and remains so today.

During World War II, US authorities holding captured German soldiers in Arizona agreed to move them out of harm’s way from the risk of valley fever. At the same time, in 1940, a Stanford scientist published criteria and other safety rules to minimize the disease’s epidemic impact.

That was 80 years ago.

Yet, Schwarzenegger’s administration has successfully argued in this case that its officials did not know that valley fever presented a risk that required it to do anything. Numerous formal warnings, medical alerts, inmate protests, and expert recommendations given to officials from 2004-2007 – and standard common decency – counseled them to implement a battery of precautions, including moving at-risk prisoners out of the Central Valley prisons.

However, as a political matter, all that could be accomplished at the time was for California’s prison construction industry to not build any more beds in the hyperendemic zone. The national mass incarceration effort was still in effect.

Even in spite of direct warnings to Governor Schwarzenegger, he held a press conference in September, 2007 announcing that despite the pending and ongoing epidemic, the state would “go ahead and build.” Schwarzenegger was later quietly overruled, but nothing was done about the prisoners already in harm’s way.

In response to their subsequent lawsuits, California has insisted that without prior specific instructions relating to valley fever from the courts, and despite all the warnings, Schwarzenegger and his officials were entitled to stand idly by and watch the epidemic play out, with the most severe consequences landing on African-Americans.

Their argument is founded in a legal doctrine called “qualified immunity,” which means in practical effect total unaccountability. The plaintiffs’ case was dismissed on this basis without any discovery, without a jury, and without a trial. In any other context, epidemic danger as depicted in the photo above, in which a business, government or other institution subjects a population to dramatically-elevated health risk, would require a trial and undoubtedly result in liability.

In 2012, Cal-Trans ignored a valley fever risk for workers on a Kern County highway project. A jury returned a verdict for four of the victims in the total amount of $12M, or $3M each.

Given the magnitude of Schwarzenegger’s mistakes, the current California government structure is looking to find any loophole to avoid a jury and to avert responsibility for the quantum of harm and personal human wreckage the 2007 administration inflicted on the prison population.

According to their legal position, Schwarzenegger and his officials are entitled to qualified immunity because no court case previously informed them of exactly what to do about valley fever. Yet the Supreme Court had published Helling v McKinney in 1993, directing government officials to take reasonable measures to protect prisoners from significant diseases. The government works around Helling by claiming it was not specific enough.

This is akin to the state arguing that while it was notified as a traffic matter to avoid oncoming cars, it was not specifically warned to avoid oncoming Toyotas. Ergo, it should be held unaccountable for the head-on collision it caused with the inmates’ Camry.

It is a rocky contention at best, but one that has been validated by the Ninth Circuit to date and one that will probably not be corrected because of the Supreme Court’s impossibly busy docket. It only has the capacity to accept 1 percent of the cases presented to it.

For plaintiffs like Theodore Parker, it’s hard news to hear. Serving time in Pleasant Valley in 2010 for theft of a cell phone, he watched as other inmates became seriously ill. He pleaded with authorities to move him out. Those protests were met with pressure on him to abandon the grievance.

Soon he became infected as well, formally diagnosed in 2012 and released in June, 2014. Since then, he, his wife and his daughter have left California for a less controversial life in Portland. His youthful indiscretions are behind him, but he still lives with the disease. Last year alone, he was sick for eight months straight, coughing uncontrollably. Despite the prospect of a lifetime of complications, “the worst part of it was the psychological stress when they refused to move me.”

Despite the continuing challenges with the case, he and the other plaintiffs are resolute. Most filed their petition to the High Court on June 24, 2019 (Case No 18-1590), and if that fails, some like Parker can litigate their own round of appeals back at the 9th Circuit next year. Barring a change of heart by the Ninth Circuit, a second petition to the US Supreme Court will be filed in 2022, lasting another year or two.

If there is no luck in the American courts, the prisoners intend to press their case against Schwarzenegger and California prison officials in the United Nations, through approximately 2026. The argument there is that his administration committed acts of cruelty in violation of Article 5 of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In summary, litigation over valley fever was initiated by prisoners twelve years ago, in 2007. By the time all of the victims are completely out of options it will be roughly 2026, or 19 years later.

For American businesses, governmental authorities and other institutions, the message is this. Upon detection of a risk of valley fever, or initiation of any outdoor industry in the hyperendemic zone of California and Arizona, the maximum number of precautions, including exclusion of high-risk persons and environmental suppression, should be implemented immediately and aggressively.

If farm workers, construction personnel, truck drivers, wards, or any other subordinates under a business or institution’s care get infected, the best case scenario is a lawsuit and possibly spend two decades in court, while the worst case scenario is that a lawsuit, and after five years in court, pay $3,000,000 per victim.

Benjamin Pavone, Esq.
Attorney for the Prisoners
619 224 8885
bpavone@cox.net

Contact:

PAVONE & FONNER, LLP
501 West Broadway, Suite 800
San Diego, California, 92101
Phone: 619 224 8885
Fax: 619 224 8886
Email: bpavone@cox.net
Website: https://www.pavone-fonner-llp.com/