Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we’ve got some really compelling stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s going on.
Duplicate absentee ballots were mailed out in a major city in a key swing state, former President Donald Trump has just met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the former first lady credits miracles for her husband surviving two recent assassination attempts.
Also, the U.S. government is charging Iranians with hacking into a presidential campaign, and a judge issues a key ruling regarding fluoride and our nation’s children.
Wisconsin City Confirms Duplicate Ballots
Madison city spokesperson Dylan Brogan confirmed that more than 2,200 voters in Madison just received duplicate absentee ballots. Brogan went on to say that it was a mistake and that the clerk’s office is rectifying the situation as quickly as possible.The error, which happened earlier this week, was disclosed by voters who received the extra ballots. That prompted an immediate investigation by the city clerk’s office, who says so far, none of the duplicate ballots have been returned.
Madison’s city clerk says that the mailing of those erroneous ballots was caused by a simple data processing error made by one of the many staff who work for the city. She emphasized there was no criminal intent involved and that the process has since been corrected to prevent a similar error from occurring.
You should know that in 2020, election officials narrowly certified Joe Biden as the winner over Donald Trump in Wisconsin following two recount efforts, including one in Madison.
Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany, a Republican, made reference to that election and alleged that Madison officials have a “history of controversial and legally dubious election practices.” He went on to say how important it is for election officials in Madison to provide full transparency on how an error of this magnitude could happen at such a crucial time.
In a letter to the clerk’s office, he said that he rejects the city clerk’s explanation for the sending of duplicate ballots and said an independent, third-party investigation is needed to restore public trust.
Trump Meets With Zelenskyy, Says He ‘Learned a Lot’ but His Viewpoint Is Unchanged
Trump met with Zelenskyy yesterday and says while he’s learned a lot, he wants the war to end and see a deal made between both sides that’s fair.Ukraine has been fighting off Russia’s invasion since February 2022.
The meeting, which was held at Trump Tower in New York City, came one day after Trump restated that he could broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, although he didn’t give out any details.
However, his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), has called for a demilitarized zone in Ukraine that would be “heavily fortified so the Russians don’t invade again.” So you know, Zelenskyy called Vance’s comments “an awful idea,” saying it would make Ukraine shoulder the costs of stopping the war by giving up its territories.
For his part, Zelenskyy said the war should have never happened in the first place and that Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to be pressured to stop the war since he’s on Ukraine territory. He also said that the United States can take the lead when it comes to negotiating a settlement.
On a side note, House Speaker Mike Johnson sent a letter to Zelenskyy to remove Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States due to Zelenskyy being given a tour of an ammunition factory in Pennsylvania, which has supplied ammo to Ukraine.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a top surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris, guided Zelenskyy on the tour, which included no Republicans. Johnson said it was designed to help Democrats in a key battleground state and that it is election interference.
He went on to say that support for Ukraine is bipartisan, but that Zelenskyy is testing the limits of GOP support.
Melania Trump Says ‘Miracles’ Saved Her Husband’s Life
Melania Trump says it was divine intervention that saved her husband. The former first lady spoke to Fox & Friends in an interview aired Thursday, saying miracles happened at both events and described how she found out about them.To refresh your memory, the first time someone tried to kill Trump was in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. A bullet clipped Trump’s ear, and his wife said had he not turned his head, he would not be here today.
She said she didn’t see what happened live, as she had the rally on TV paused because she was working. Once she was told that he had been shot, she hit play on the TV and watched as Trump was taken to the ground by the Secret Service. She says she tried calling her husband, but there was no answer. It wasn’t till she made contact with Secret Service officials that she was able to speak with the former president and confirm he was alright.
She went on to describe her first conversation about what happened with their son Barron, saying it was very difficult.
You should know that it was just weeks later, on Sept. 15 while she was in New York, that she learned of the second assassination attempt against Trump at his golf club in West Palm Beach. She said she saw it on television and again called the Secret Service agents to make sure he was ok, saying they were fantastic.
So you know, she believes God protected her husband and spared his life because the country really needs him. The former first lady also said she’s not surprised Trump is a target, given the current political climate. Melania Trump pointed to leaders from the opposition party and mainstream media who have been calling him vile names and branding him as a threat to democracy.
By the way, the talk on Fox & Friends marked her first interview in two years, and she’s promoting her new memoir, “Melania.”
DOJ Charges Iranians Over Hack of Presidential Campaign
The three individuals helped hack a 2024 U.S. presidential campaign, according to court documents filed in Washington, obtained by The Epoch Times.Prosecutors say the scheme started around January 2020 and initially targeted both former and current U.S. officials before turning to a presidential campaign in or around May 2024. It expanded in June, with the goal of distributing the stolen campaign material by leaking it to reporters and another presidential campaign, which was identified as President Joe Biden’s.
Here’s how it worked. The hackers used sophisticated techniques in their operation, including fake email accounts of well-known people. They used those fake accounts to send emails to key people in order to gain access to their computers, provided the recipients clicked on the messages.
By the way, this technique is known as phishing or spear phishing. Once compromised, the trio would then send new spear phishing emails to additional victims, leveraging their misplaced trust, and steal data from those accounts.
The trio worked with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, which is part of the Iranian Armed Forces. All three, who live in Iran, have been charged with conspiracy to obtain information from a protected computer, wire fraud, and other counts.
So you know, the hacked campaign is not identified in the documents.
One final note: Several news outlets reported receiving some of the material, but only described and did not publish it. However, one independent reporter did and X shut down his account because he did not redact the personal information of Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate.
Judge Issues Fluoride Ruling
This week in California, a federal judge sided with several groups that sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and ordered the agency to strengthen its rules around fluoride in drinking water, writing that it could pose a risk to children’s intellectual development.In his 80-page decision, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen noted that while it is not certain that the amount of fluoride typically added to drinking water can lower the IQ in children, he concluded that new research suggests that it might.
He based his decision on an August report from the National Toxicology Program. It found that there’s a link between higher amounts of fluoride exposure and a lower IQ in children. You may not know that fluoride has been added to tap water for years in order to prevent tooth decay and that it’s the primary source of fluoride for most Americans.
The EPA had argued that it wasn’t clear what effect fluoride exposure might have at lower levels. However, by law, they’re required to make sure there is a margin between the hazard level and exposure level, and the judge said if there is an insufficient margin, then the chemical poses a risk.
Chen stressed that his ruling does not stipulate that fluoridated water can cause lower IQ in children with certainty, but is weighing the potential risk.
Interesting to note, this case, which began in 2017, was paused in 2020 in order to wait for the results of that report from the National Toxicology Program. Chen’s ruling was made just weeks after that report came out.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Saturday edition (the weekend edition) of The Epoch Times News Brief.
*(Don’t forget the News Brief Motto): We’re portable, affordable, and always on-demand.
And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from English poet Alfred Austin, who said: “The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.”
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program was written today by Sharon Reardon.
Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.
Enjoy the remainder of your Saturday, and we’ll see you right back here next time for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief. For now, let’s all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
