Former HP Exec and Romney Protege Meg Whitman, Now Ambassador to Kenya, Came up with the Idea of the Kenya Security Force to Haiti

Former U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti Dan Foote said in an exclusive interview on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show that former HP CEO Meg Whitman, who now serves as the U.S. Ambassador to Kenya, is the official behind the security deal between Kenya and Haiti.

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South Carolina Governor Signs Bill to Help Preserve Working Agricultural Lands

South Carolina Farmland

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a measure that aims to help landowners use voluntary conservation easements to preserve working agricultural lands.

H. 3951, the Working Agricultural Lands Preservation Act, creates the Working Farmland Protection Fund within the South Carolina Conservation Bank. The measure ostensibly complements the agricultural projects the bank funds by establishing a matching grant payment for qualified projects.

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South Carolina Officials Plotting Next Steps for $1.8 Billion Balance

South Carolina Politics

South Carolina state officials are determining how to proceed with a $1.8 billion balance discovered in a state account and Republican Gov. Henry McMaster has given leaders a July 1 deadline to chart a course forward.

On Oct. 31, 2023, South Carolina Comptroller General Brian Gaines sent a letter to South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis, directing Loftis to research the account’s origins. It marked the start of a months-long Senate investigation that exposed what a Senate Finance Committee Constitutional Subcommittee report dubbed “financial irregularities” in the state treasurer’s office.

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Neil W. McCabe: Trump Has Opportunity to Capitalize in New York, Produce ‘Amazing Turnout’ for Republicans in November

Trump NYC

National political reporter Neil W. McCabe said the scene of former President Donald Trump visiting a bodega in West Harlem last week “absolutely” resonates with Hispanic and Black voters, which ultimately makes the left “very concerned.”

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South Carolina Senate Poised to Consider 2024-25 Budget

South Carolina Capitol

South Carolina senators will soon consider a fiscal 2024-25 budget for the state, a plan that includes nearly $100 million to speed up a personal income tax reduction.

Last week, the Senate Finance Committee gave the thumbs up to its version of a state budget, H.5100, and a Capital Reserve Fund, H.5101, sending both to the full Senate for consideration.

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Feds Send $1.2 Million to South Carolina for Transit Development Study

Charleston Bus

The federal government has awarded a $1.2 million grant to a three-county planning council in the Charleston area to study transit-oriented development tied to a bus rapid transit line slated to open in five years.

The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments will use the federal tax dollars for the third phase of a TOD study. The study will focus on implementing affordable housing strategies along the proposed 21.3-mile-long Lowcountry Rapid Transit line.

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Georgia, South Carolina Port Operations Could Be Affected by Baltimore Collision

South Carolina Port

While the discussion continues following the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, several opportunities to improve operations and processes have emerged.

Officials at Georgia’s and South Carolina’s ports have vowed to help however they can.

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South Carolina Senate Fails to Advance Tort Reform Measure

South Carolina Capitol

The South Carolina Senate did not pass a measure aimed at stemming lawsuit abuse, likely killing the push for the legislative session.

Senate Bill 533, the South Carolina Justice Act, would have amended the South Carolina Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act and moved the state toward a model in which a defendant is financially liable based on their percentage of fault. Proponents say this would reduce excessive damage awards in civil cases.

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D.C. Bar Disciplinary Panel Makes Nonbinding Preliminary Determination of Culpability for a ‘Thought Crime’ in Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Former DOJ Official Jeffrey Clark

The disciplinary trial of Donald Trump’s former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark wrapped up on Thursday with the D.C. Bar’s disciplinary panel making a nonbinding preliminary determination that Clark was culpable on at least one of the two counts against him.

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During Jeffrey Clark’s Disbarment Trial, Cyber Security Expert Says Georgia’s 2020 Election Was Not ‘Conducted According to the Law’

The second and final week of the disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former DOJ official, Jeffrey Clark, began to wind down on Wednesday with more testimony from operations security expert Harry Haury.

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