Texas AG Paxton fled house along with his spouse to keep away from a subpoena in an abortion case

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fled his home to avoid being served a subpoena Monday in a federal lawsuit filed by groups seeking to help Texans obtain out-of-state abortions, court filings show .

Paxton ran from the garage of his McKinney, Texas, home into a truck being driven by his wife, Sen. Angela Paxton, while refusing to accept the documents from a process server, according to an affidavit released Monday filed in the US District Court in Austin.

The Paxtons drove away without taking the documents left on the floor of the home, process server Ernesto Martin Herrera wrote in the affidavit.

Federal Judge Robert Pitman on Tuesday granted a motion to vacate the subpoena for Paxton’s testimony. Paxton had argued that the subpoena was unjustified because “none of the requirements for making, let alone enforcing, such a request has been satisfied.”

In a statement later Tuesday, Paxton accused the server of posing a threat by attacking it and yelling “incomprehensible”.

The attorney general also said Herrera is “fortunate that this situation has not further escalated or necessitated violence” after noting that many Texans retain guns for protection.

The subpoena ordered Paxton, a Republican, to testify at a hearing Tuesday morning in a civil lawsuit in which several Texas-based nonprofits plan to resume helping pregnant residents obtain abortions in other states. These include paying out-of-state abortion providers and providing financial assistance to those who desire abortions, as well as providing interstate travel to those providers.

The nonprofits say their pro-abortion activities halted shortly before the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade, who had enshrined federal abortion rights for decades, in June by a 5-4 vote. The Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization also threw out another case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which had broadly upheld the abortion rights introduced by Roe.

In two tweets late Monday night, Paxton claimed he was concerned for his family and attacked the media for reporting on the affidavit without denying the contents of the document.

“This is a ridiculous waste of time and the media should be ashamed,” Paxton tweeted in response to a Texas Tribune article.

“Across the country, conservatives have faced security threats – many threats that have received little coverage or condemnation from the mainstream media,” his tweet said.

“It’s clear the media wants to stir up another controversy about my work as Attorney General, so they’re attacking me for having the audacity to avoid a stranger lingering outside my home and for my safety and well-being Family worries,” he said in a second tweet.

Herrera’s affidavit states that he arrived at Paxton’s home at 8:28 a.m. Monday and was greeted at the front door by a woman posing as Angela. When he told her he was trying to serve the subpoenas on Ken Paxton, she told him the AG was on the phone.

Herrera, who said he recognized Ken Paxton inside the house through glass on the door, offered to wait for him. Angela responded that Paxton “was in a hurry to leave,” according to Herrera, who watched a black Chevy truck pull into the driveway and then saw another car pull up there.

Around 9:40 a.m. Herrera said he saw Paxton coming out of his garage. Herrera walked up the drive towards Paxton and called his name. At that point, “He turned and ran back into the house through the same door in the garage.”

Minutes later, Angela came to the truck and opened both the driver’s door and the door behind it, Herrera wrote. A few minutes after she started the truck, “I saw Mr. Paxton RAN from the door in the garage to the back door behind the driver’s side,” Herrera wrote.

“I approached the truck and loudly called him by his name and explained that I have court documents for him. Mr. Paxton ignored me and continued to the truck. After realizing that Mr. Paxton would not accept the subpoenas from me I explained that I served him legal documents and left them on the floor where he could get them,” Herrera wrote.

“Then I put the documents on the ground next to the truck. The service ended at 9:50 am. He got into the truck and left the documents on the ground, and then both vehicles drove off,” he wrote.

Paxton’s statement Tuesday condemned the subpoena episode as a “fabricated controversy” and a “shameless stunt by my political opponents — a stunt a federal judge dismissed today by overturning the subpoena.”

“Here are the facts: A strange man came to my property at home, yelled incomprehensibly and charged at me. I found this person a threat because he was not honest or open about his intentions,” Paxton said in a statement.

The AG said he was taking several security precautions at home “given the constant threats against me”. He noted that many others in Texas are “also exercising their Second Amendment rights to protect themselves and their families.”

“Given that this suspicious and erratic man has sued me over my private property, he is fortunate that this situation has not escalated further or necessitated violence,” Paxton said. “As leaders across America, from elected officials to Supreme Court justices, face unprecedented threats of politically motivated violence, I believe the type of behavior employed by radical activists is thoroughly disgusting and fast-paced should be condemned – not in the media.

In July, Paxton sued the Biden administration over the Health Department’s order that hospitals and doctors perform abortions in emergency situations.

Paxton, who was elected attorney general in 2014 and re-elected in 2018, has been charged with securities fraud for seven years, although the case has not gone to trial. He won his Republican primary in May, defeating GOP challenger George P. Bush in a runoff.

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The Fed’s Evans is nervous about going too far and too quick with fee hikes

Charles Evans, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, speaks at the National Association of Business Economics (NABE) Annual Meeting in Arlington, Virginia, Monday, September 27, 2021.

Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Chicago Federal Reserve Chairman Charles Evans says he is concerned the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates too quickly to combat runaway inflation.

Speaking to CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe on Tuesday, Evans said he remains “cautiously optimistic” that the US economy can avoid a recession provided there are no further external shocks.

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His comments come shortly after a number of senior Fed officials said they would continue to prioritize fighting inflation, which is currently near its highest level since the early 1980s.

The central bank raised interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point earlier this month, the third straight rise of three-quarters of a percentage point.

Fed officials also indicated that they would continue raising rates well above the current 3% to 3.25% range.

Asked about investor concerns that the Fed doesn’t seem to be waiting long enough to properly assess the impact of its rate hikes, Evans replied, “Well, that’s exactly why I’m a little nervous.”

“There are delays in monetary policy and we have acted swiftly. We’ve made three 75 basis point raises in a row and there’s talk of getting to 4.25% to 4.5% by the end of the year. There’s not a lot of time to look at every monthly release,” Evans said.

‘Peak Funds Rate’

Traders were concerned that the Fed will remain more hawkish for longer than some had anticipated.

The Fed’s 64-year-old Evans has consistently been one of the Fed’s policy doves, advocating lower interest rates and more accommodation. He will step down from his post early next year.

Watch CNBC's full interview with Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans

“Again, I still believe that our consensus, the median forecasts, will hit the peak interest rate by March – assuming there are no further adverse shocks. And as things get better, maybe we could do less, but I think we’re heading towards that peak,” Evans said.

“That offers a way for employment, you know, to stabilize in something that’s not yet a recession, but there could be shocks, there could be other difficulties,” he continued.

“God knows, every time I thought supply chains were going to improve, that we were going to increase car production and lower used car prices and house building, and all of that, something happened. So, cautiously optimistic.”

— CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this report.

Rachel Maddow coldly reveals what’s at stake within the medium time period

Rachel Maddow explained that vote-denying Republicans want to stay in power without having to serve you and your needs.

Video by Maddow:

Maddo says:

It’s about separating power from people’s preferences. Instead, rule over people only by force, for their own ends and to meet their own needs, rather than people’s needs. If you try to gain and hold power through violent intimidation, and not because people want you there, it doesn’t end well for anyone. Not just in history, not just as a political abstraction.

But in terms of how we live and what the prospects are for ours
families, right? What are the prospects for you and for your future and for your children and their future? Whether you care how the story went or not. Whether you care or not, how did history go when the ancestors of these people came to power. Whether or not you are interested in majority or minority rule as concepts, the isms are central to these discussions.

This is about your life. In a practical, everyday sense, if there’s a party trying to challenge elections as the way we choose who’s in power, they want to remain in control regardless of elections. They want to stay in power without your consent and without your ability to remove them, which means they don’t want to serve you.

And that means if you want the government to do anything to make your family’s life materially better, more stable, more dignified, that’s a blinking red siren on abandoning that task. And sometimes it’s easier to see that in lands far away than it is here and up close, and sometimes it’s easier to see it in history so we can see how it leads to what we’re going through today and how it rhymes.

Republicans want power without obligation and accountability.

Americans watch as Senate Republicans ignore their commitments for years. The American people want sane gun laws, but Mitch McConnell’s Senate faction said no. The list of problems is long where Senate Republicans have ignored the wants and needs of the American people.

The nation has had experience of the Republican Party ignoring its commitments, but what’s relatively new is that the Donald Trump-led Republican Party wants power without accountability.

By delegitimizing elections, Republicans seek to stay in power without being held accountable for neglecting their duties.

A party or government that is exempt from accountability will not serve its people.

It’ll be on the ballot in six weeks.

Mr. Easley is the managing editor. He is also a White House press pool and congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in political science. His thesis focused on public policy with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and professional memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association

Walgreens, Amazon, Wawa discover success among the many principally unemployed staff

Walgreens has been educating and employing neurodiverse workers since 2007. “What we know from data and research is that this is the highest unemployed demographic in the country,” said Carlos Cubia, global chief diversity officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance, of the workers with disabilities.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

When Cornelia Quinn, co-founder of Go-Be, which makes reusable antimicrobial covers for airplane trays, needed help packing and fulfilling orders, she looked no further than her 19-year-old son Jake, who has autism.

Finding employment as someone with autism is difficult. More than half of young adults with autism are unemployed. Unemployment for neurodivergent adults is 30 to 40%, three times that of people with disabilities – according to a recent report by Deloitte, up to 85% of people on the autism spectrum are unemployed. Neurodiversity is an umbrella term that covers a wide range of disorders, including autism, ADHD, dyspraxia, and dyslexia. With one in 45 adults on the autism spectrum alone, this is a large untapped potential in the labor market.

This is a key data point for employers amid the current labor crisis. About half of U.S. states now have unemployment rates below pre-pandemic levels — a 50-year low — while 13 states have unemployment rates below 3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This means employers are struggling to fill vacancies and are more willing to delve deeper into previously overlooked populations.

“Employers are trying several methods of hiring and finding resources that may not have existed before,” said John Dooney, recruitment consultant at the Society for Human Resource Management.

“Everyone struggles to find talent in the marketplace,” said Carlos Cubia, global chief diversity officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance. “What we know from data and research is that this is the highest unemployed demographic in the country. And these are people with disabilities. So it’s an untapped resource that companies can hopefully rely on.”

Walgreens and Amazon are banking on neurodiverse talent

One stumbling block employers face when hiring neurodiverse individuals is accommodating conditions. Because neurodiversity encompasses such a wide variety of disorders, the adaptations required also vary widely. Someone who is sensitive to loud noises may need headphones to muffle the sound. Others with severe dyslexia or other conditions may benefit from signage that includes images or is colour-coded.

Since its inception in 2007, Walgreens’ Transition Work Group program has helped place 1,000 people in the company’s distribution centers. The 13-week training program includes both classroom and on-the-job training on how to pick and pack orders from the distribution center to the stores.

“These individuals will be paid the same as someone without a disability after completing the 13-week program, have the same job performance expectations and will be treated like any other member of the workforce. We don’t bother saying where you know your productivity may be lower, your expectations or lower, we do none of that,” said Cubia.

The company also has a similar program for its retail stores. The retail employees with disabilities train employees with disabilities to stock shelves, unload trucks, greet customers or work as a cashier. To keep the program going, Walgreen’s human resources and distribution center management work with local community organizations and state and local social services to help recruit and select candidates.

Job coaching can be a key factor in success. Wawa, which operates a chain of convenience stores and gas stations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and three other states, is breaking down tasks for neurodiverse employees. Typical employees have a range of responsibilities, from preparing food to cleaning to customer service. A job coach, employed by a coaching organization rather than by Wawa, will help determine the right job scope for the individual, which may vary based on skills and desires.

Jay Culotta, Wawa Treasurer and President of the Wawa Foundation, said that when his daughter Hannah, who suffers from Down syndrome, started working for the company two years ago, she worked with a job coach to make sure she did chores done efficiently and effectively. “Over time, as Hannah became more independent, that job coach disappeared,” Culotta said.

Wawa has worked with Eden Autism Services in New Jersey for over 40 years. The partnership began when a store manager hired the autistic Ari Shiner via Eden in 1981. Today, Wawa works with more than 200 different job coaching organizations. Shiner is still with the company and Wawa has about 30 other neurodiverse employees who have been with the company for at least 20 years.

While some neurodiverse individuals may need more adjustments, many do not.

“The adjustments typically required aren’t huge,” said Dan Roth, a technical recruiter for Amazon who is also considered neurodiverse as someone with ADHD. “If someone’s working at 50% of their capacity, but if you make two or three slight adjustments, and that gets them up to 85 or 95%… see how much more ROI you get,” he said.

At Go-Be, which employs four neurodiverse workers, Quinn divides tasks to best suit each individual. While their son Jake is particularly good at computer tasks, another member really likes to roll and fold their sleeves. “It’s almost therapeutic for him,” she said. “We set up stations for them and we really want to encourage their success and give them social opportunities to work together to fulfill their role or mission,” Quinn said.

Cornelia Quinn, co-founder of Go-Be, and her son Jake, who has autism. She says the goal of employing her son and other neurodiverse staff is to make them “feel like they’re waiting in the morning for something to look forward to and just feel like they’re part of society.” and that they’ contribute again.”

morning

While it might take some preparation and investment to hire neurodiverse individuals, recruiters and companies that have been through the process say it’s paying off — both financially and otherwise.

“These people are very reliable, very good from a productivity standpoint…they are very methodical and do their jobs with care and attention to detail,” Cubia said.

The turnover rate for people going through Walgreen’s TWG program is 25% lower than the norm at Walgreen’s distribution centers. Customer retention is also higher, Cubia said. “You’ve heard the old adage that it costs less to keep an employee than it does to attract a new one. From that point of view, it helps you save money,” he said.

In addition, the IRS offers tax credits and incentives to companies that hire disabled people, which may include some neurodiverse individuals. Some of the incentives aim to offset the cost of accommodation.

For Wawa, payout isn’t necessarily tied to performance metrics or profit margins.

“We have some employees in this program who are just as efficient and productive as our typical employees … And we have some who just don’t fit the cards, and that’s fine. Their remit can be very, very narrow, or they can work fully with their job coach,” said Dave Simonetti, Wawa’s senior director for store operations, “but there are other things that are brought to the table.”

These other qualities are harder to quantify but are just as important. “The employees who work with them feel that the community really embraces this program. This is a huge win for customer service, which represents a huge opportunity in our industry. Often this is a great benefit to the mere customer interaction. It’s a different set of metrics,” he said.

Wawa has approximately 47,000 employees, 500 of whom are neurodiverse.

While companies like SAP, Microsoft, Ford, Deloitte, IBM, and others have shifted their HR practices to hire more neurodiverse people for programming or other technical jobs, efforts to hire neurodiverse people for fulfillment, sales, or retail jobs are more scattered. Part of the bias is the perception that neurodiverse individuals or people with disabilities can’t compete in a company that monitors performance metrics so closely.

Arwyn Swager, a recruiter for Indeed.com and WilsonHCG who focuses on recruiting neurodiverse individuals, said opportunities for neurodiverse individuals can vary by company, business and leader. She quoted several people at Walmart and many at Lowe’s. Some store leaders are very familiar with the process and all the precautions, others are cautious, she said.

Walmart spokesman Jimmy Carter said the company does not have a specific program for hiring neurodiverse individuals. “We don’t ask for specific terms, but we are committed to engaging, hiring and developing diverse talent from underrepresented communities, including neurodiverse individuals,” he said.

Go-Be’s Quinn hopes that with greater awareness, more neurodiverse people will find employment. The current high unemployment rate “is an alarming number. In the future, I want to somehow involve the community,” she said.

“These are all great opportunities to help them have a purpose and feel like they have something to look forward to in the morning and just feel like they’re part of society and contributing, ” She added.

Biogen to pay $900 million to settle bribery allegations

A Biogen facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Brian Snyder | Reuters

Biogen will pay $900 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the company paid kickbacks to doctors to encourage them to prescribe its drugs, the Justice Department said Monday.

Michael Bawduniak, a former Biogen employee-turned-whistleblower, sued the drug company on behalf of the federal government in 2012 under the False Claims Act.

Bawduniak alleged that from 2009 to 2014, Biogen paid bribes in the form of speaking fees, consulting fees and meals to doctors to encourage them to prescribe its multiple sclerosis drugs.

The alleged kickbacks resulted in false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for prescribing Avonex, Tysabri and Tecfidera, according to the Justice Department.

Biogen will pay more than $843 million to the federal government and $56 million to 15 states to settle the case. Bawduniak will receive about $250 million of federal proceeds, according to the Justice Department.

“The settlement announced today underscores the critical role whistleblowers play in the United States’ amendment to the False Claims Act to combat fraud affecting federal health care programs,” said Brian Boynton, chief of the Civil Division at the Department of Justice.

Biogen denied any wrongdoing in the case in a statement Monday. The company said it wants to settle the litigation to focus on other priorities.

“Biogen believes that its intention and conduct were lawful and reasonable at all times, and Biogen denies all allegations made in this case,” the company said. “The US and the states have not intervened in the case and the settlement does not include an admission of Biogen’s liability.”

Biogen announced in its second-quarter report that it had reached an agreement in principle to pay $900 million to settle the lawsuit.

CNBC Health & Science

Read CNBC’s latest global health coverage:

DJ Akademiks opens up concerning the backlash he obtained after calling some hip-hop pioneers “Dusty” and his feedback on Reginae Carter’s relationship

Comments DJ Akademiks made during one of his recent live streams rubbed some people the wrong way, and they took him out on social media about it. Now he opens up about his comments and the backlash in a new interview with The Breakfast Club.

As previously reported, hip-hop pioneers like LL Cool J and Russell Simmons took to social media to reach out to Akademiks after audio from one of his live streams went viral when he labeled some hip-hop pioneers as ” dusty”. It was believed he was speaking in relation to her finances. However, Akademiks said the context of his comments was omitted.

“I was talking about passing on game,” he said. “I spoke about educating the next generation instead of criticizing them. And I thought sometimes you don’t understand why they don’t listen to you. One of the reasons they might not listen to you… you’re going to screw it up, whether it’s signing a contract, a bad contract, or whatever pitfalls you have in this game if you never pass it on. You never passed on this knowledge.”

He further admitted that the “broken and dusty” comment he made was inflammatory and disrespectful.

Akademiks even continued to salute LL Cool J, saying that whatever he said in response to his comment was correct, but about 80 percent of what LL said wasn’t focused on what he said [Akademiks] said at the time of his live stream.

“I never question the contribution or appreciate the contribution of anyone who came before me, and I never say that money is the only thing that validates that contribution,” he said.

Regarding Reginae Carter’s current relationship, Akademiks also shared that he understood why Toya Johnson was upset that he was talking about her daughter.

He explained that he wasn’t exactly calling Reginae Carter a slut, but he did talk about her current relationship with Armon Warren, which was made public on social media. He commented that Armon and Reginae’s ex YFN Lucci are complete opposites. He admitted saying the B-word, but quickly retracted it.

He said, “I shouldn’t say that because her name was slightly attached to it.”

Watch the full interview below:

TSR STAFF: Jade Ashley @Jade_Ashley94

Southwest Airways employed a report 3,000 flight attendants thus far this yr

Passengers disembark from a Southwest Airlines flight departing from Las Vegas at Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California on October 10, 2021. Air traffic control and its own lack of available personnel.

Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty Images

Southwest Airlines has hired and trained 3,000 flight attendants so far this year, nearly triple the record number of cabin crew members for all of 2018, the airline told employees last week.

Southwest and other airlines are still scrambling to hire and train staff to meet the rebound in travel demand that executives expect will continue this fall, led by strong holiday bookings.

Airlines have been barred from laying off staff during the Covid pandemic as part of a $54 billion bailout, but have been allowed to offer staff longer furloughs or early retirement.

Southwest said it currently has more than 62,000 full-time employees. That’s more than the 60,800 it had in late 2019 before the pandemic.

Southwest has also hosted three “hiring blitzes” at its Dallas corporate campus, during which flight attendant candidates are interviewed, physical proficiency tests and other screenings with the potential for conditional job offers are conducted on-site. Another is planned for this week, Southwest said in an employee memo last week.

The airline told employees it has 7,000 flight attendant candidates in its hiring pipeline and that its turnover rate among new cabin crew members has fallen to 2.5%, down from 6.1% in 2019.

The hiring frenzy comes as the flight attendant union and management at Southwest were locked in contract negotiations. According to the memo, talks with a federal mediator are scheduled to begin Nov. 1 in Dallas.

Southwest and United Airlines flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, will picket Tuesday at major airports to demand better working conditions.

Separately, Southwest announced Monday that it will be promoting its chief commercial officer, Andrew Watterson, to replace COO Mike Van de Ven, who will become the airline’s “executive advisor” in 2023.

Putin grants Russian citizenship to whistleblower Edward Snowden

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden speaks live from Russia during the Web Summit technology conference November 4, 2019 in Lisbon, Portugal.

Pedro Fiuza | OnlyPhoto | Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Russian President Vladimir Putin granted citizenship to former U.S. intelligence operative Edward Snowden on Monday, according to a decree translated by NBC News.

Snowden’s name appears as one of approximately 70 foreigners admitted for Russian citizenship by Putin.

The former NSA intelligence officer became a US government whistleblower, fleeing to Hong Kong and later Russia to evade prosecutors after leaking classified documents to journalists. In 2013 he was granted asylum in Russia and later a permanent residence permit. Snowden, 39, has lived in Russia ever since.

Subsequent news reports from more than 7,000 classified documents revealed the inner workings of a colossal US government surveillance operation. Intelligence officials have previously said Snowden may have taken 1.7 million classified files.

Reports published in The Guardian and The Washington Post uncovered a massive government-run spying program that monitored the communications of criminals, would-be terrorists and law-abiding citizens alike. Other reports documented how Washington was also secretly monitoring some of America’s closest allies, such as then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Snowden was charged with stealing US government property, unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and knowingly leaking classified communications information. The charge carries a prison sentence of up to 30 years.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

Rihanna’s Fenty Magnificence: Final Day To Kiss It Higher With 50% Off

This ultra-blendable, skin-smoothing foundation delivers the natural finish you desire with long-lasting power in 50 different shades. Pro Filt’r Hydrating Longwear Foundation instantly evens out skin without clogging pores or settling into fine lines, according to the brand. According to Fenty Beauty, the foundation contains skin-friendly ingredients, including grape seed oil and sodium hyaluronate, which provide moisture. But it gets even better. This formula is sweat resistant and moisture resistant.

Fenty Beauty shoppers love this foundation for its skin-like finish, with one writing: “This is such a beautiful finish, isn’t heavy on the face, it’s just like having really nice clear skin.” Another explained, ” This is literally the best foundation I’ve ever tried. It matches my skin tone PERFECTLY, it blends so well, it blends into my skin and looks like my real skin! love, love, love!”