Monday News & Notes

Kentucky governor says flood relief session ‘will happen’

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday he hopes to call a special session of the state legislature in the next few weeks to work on flood relief. “Everybody is committed to it,” Beshear said at a Monday news conference. “We are having in-depth conversations about what the legislation looks like.” Beshear said the session “will happen." “My hope is we could see it ... within the next four weeks,” the governor said. (Herald-Leader)

Cameron asks district court to permanently dismiss challenge to Ky. pro-life law

Attorney General Cameron filed a motion Monday asking a federal district court to overturn its previous ruling and permanently dismiss a challenge to Kentucky’s anti-abortion law, House Bill 454. The motion was filed following a ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which directed the district court to reconsider its prior ruling in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. (Kentucky Today)

As Trump may face espionage charges, Rand Paul calls for repeal of Espionage Act

As details emerge surrounding the boxes of documents that the FBI uncovered at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, far right Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) has called for a repeal of the Espionage Act, a law that federal officials may use to prosecute Trump. On Saturday, Paul wrote in a tweet that the Espionage Act — which is used to prosecute spies and those who gather and refuse to return sensitive information that relates to national defense — is an “egregious affront to the 1st Amendment” and that it has been “abused from the beginning to jail dissenters of WWI.” Free speech advocates have long called for reforms to the Espionage Act, as the World War I-era law has been used to prosecute whistleblowers, including figures like Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning, who have leaked information about American war crimes perpetrated by the military abroad. However, the timing of Paul’s tweet, just a few days after the FBI search, suggests that he may be calling for the repeal of the Espionage Act due to Trump’s potential legal troubles in relation to the top secret documents that he smuggled to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office. Holding onto classified documents — and concealing them from federal investigators — is illegal. (Truthout)

Booker to Paul on Espionage Act: Stop threatening our democracy

As former President Donald Trump fumes over the FBI raid of his Palm Beach compound, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is calling for a repeal of the Espionage Act, which the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating if Trump violated. The Kentucky Republican is running for re-election against Democratic nominee Charles Booker, who is “demanding he end his assault on our democracy or immediately resign.” “Make no mistake about Rand Paul’s newfound position on the Espionage Act: Rand Paul is for Rand Paul,” Booker said in a statement Monday. “Rand Paul famously used the Espionage Act to bully political opponents. Now he is working to cover-up espionage for the same reason – it serves his interests.” (KY Fried Politics)

The DOJ is investigating Southern Baptists following sexual abuse crisis

Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention said Friday that several of the denomination’s major entities are under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in the wake of its multiple problems related to clergy sex abuse. The SBC’s Executive Committee has received a subpoena, but no individuals have been subpoenaed at this point, according to the committee’s lawyers. (WFPL)

And from the Twitter machine ...

--30--