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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Clark County District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt is responding to a former politicians call for her removal in the murder trial against him.

Leavitt wrote in an affidavit that she could be fair and impartial to former Clark County public administrator Robert Telles. Telles, who is charged in the killing of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German last year, had filed a motion for recusal, accusing Leavitt of badgering him during the Feb. 28 hearing where she approved his self-representation.

Leavitt ruled that Telles, 46, could represent himself in his murder trial which is set to take place in November.

During the hearing, Leavitt raised several concerns about Telles decision and his lack of experience and knowledge of criminal law.

It is always unwise to represent yourself in any matter let alone a first-degree murder case, Leavitt said in the hearing.

Leavitt told Telles that she was concerned because of his lack of experience in criminal cases and he will be up against the most experienced attorneys in this trial. Telles admitted in court that he had only handled a few civil jury cases.

Leavitt said in the hearing that her thorough questioning would establish a record that Telles was not very knowledgeable about criminal cases.

You really dont know about the charge against you and what youre coming up against, she told Telles.

Defendant brings this motion to recuse Judge Leavitt because the level of bias exhibited by Judge Leavitt displays a deep-seated antagonism that would make fair judgment impossible, Telles later wrote in court documents.

Judge Leavitts badgering led the media to believe defendant was foolish to seek self-representation, Telles said in court documents. Judge Leavitts behavior led the media to produce stories wherein defendants intentions and capacity were called into question. Comments made in one news [storys] comments section demonstrated members of the public took these points to heart.

Leavitt responded, the court cannot control the media coverage of this matter, in her affidavit filed on March 10.

The Nevada Supreme Court recently held the district courts canvass must ensure the defendant is waiving counsel with eyes wide open, Leavitt wrote. The district court must safeguard against the unacceptable danger that defendant would choose to represent himself with an incomplete understanding of the risks he faces.

Prosecutors accuse Telles of targeting German, 69, because of articles he was writing about problems in the court administrators office. Telles, a Democrat, lost a three-way primary in June. In online posts following the election, Telles appeared to blame German for his election loss.

Evidence in the case includes a video of a man prosecutors said is Telles walking up Germans driveway before the murder. Detectives found Telles DNA under Germans fingernails, police said.

In a separate filing earlier this year, Telles claimed other jail inmates are trying to coerce him to confess as he spends most of the day alone in a cell.

A hearing on Telles motion was scheduled for March 30. Telles trial is set to begin on Nov. 6.

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Court cannot control media coverage, Las Vegas judge responds in former politicians murder case - KLAS - 8 News Now

News

nashville school shooting

By David Propper

March 27, 2023 | 8:04pm

The mother of the Nashville school shooter who killed six people including three 9-year-olds appeared to be a gun control activist who once urged friends on Facebook to sign a petition calling for keeping firearms out of schools.

So important! Norma Hale wrote in a March 8, 2018, Facebook post as she shared the petition to Keep Guns Out of School that appeared to be from the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation.

The webpages domain to the petition did not appear to exist anymore.

In another post from Feb. 21, 2018, Hale shared another petition from Sandy Hook Promise urging lawmakers to Make Large-Capacity Gun Magazines Illegal.

Hales adult child, Audrey Hale, carried out Mondays horrific mass shooting at theCovenant Schoolon Monday morning.

The 28-year-old, believed to be a former student at the small Christian school, was carrying at least two assault rifles and a handgun, police said.

In various other Facebook posts dating back several years, Norma Hale, who appeared to work at a Nashville-based church, the Village Chapel, as a coordinator, gushed over her two children for various achievements and milestones.

In the Jan. 28, 2019, post, she wrote found this in a devotional book I loaned to Audrey with a heart emoji at the end of the sentence and a photo that shows I (love) God written on the page.

She also commended her daughter in a March 15, 2017, Facebook post for impressing one of her college professors at Nossi College of Art and noted the instructor recommended her for an awards competition.

So proud of Audrey! the doting mother wrote.

Follow The Posts coverage of the school shooting in Nashville

She also stated in an August 2015 post that Audrey wrote thank you notes to all her professors at the end of her summer semester including to one teacher who lost her son in a car accident a year prior.

These were some of her words Dont ever let anything or anyone steal your joy. You have a reason and a purpose to be here, Hale wrote, adding, Amazing, Dre. I love you.

In other posts, she gave numerous shout-outs to her son and wasnt shy about how lucky she was to be the mother of her two kids.

In an Oct. 6, 2017, post, she wrote, Just grateful to be the Mom of these 2 awesome kids! with photos of Audrey and her brother growing up through the years.

Mothers Day 2014, she posted in May 2014 with a photo of her and her two children. I get to be these awesome kids Mom!

https://nypost.com/2023/03/27/mother-of-nashville-school-shooter-audrey-hale-shared-several-gun-control-posts-on-social-media/?utm_source=url_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons

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Mother of Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale shared several gun control posts on social media - New York Post

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Gendered disinformation is a subset of misogynistic abuse and violence against women that uses false or misleading gender and sex-based narratives, often with some degree of coordination, to deter women from participating in the public sphere. Both foreign state and non-state actors strategically use gendered disinformation to silence women, discourage online political discourse, and shape perceptions toward gender and the role of women in democracies. In a groundbreaking study, Canada, the European External Action Service (EEAS), Germany, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, and the United States jointly assessed the tactics used by these actors to sow gendered and other identity-based disinformation across the world. Key findings from this report are detailed below.

Our research underscores the importance of using a gender and identity-based lens to analyze the tactics used by foreign state and non-state actors to spread gendered disinformation that deliberately polarizes attitudes, sows division, and undermines social cohesion. The spread of gendered disinformation harms not only the targeted individuals, but also democracy. The critical nature of the subject matter requires further investigation, particularly in understanding the use of gendered disinformation in Africa and Latin America; the evolving tactics of state actors; and Russias use of misogynistic narratives in Europe; in addition to furthering understanding of communicationsresponses and interventions that can be used to counter gendered disinformation.To inform our collective responses most effectively, we must continue to not only study gendered disinformation tactics and their impacts on targeted communities, but also partner across countries invested in preserving democracy to share findings, deepen the evidence base, and inform policy to tackle this scourge.

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Gendered Disinformation: Tactics, Themes, and Trends by Foreign ... - Department of State

WASHINGTON -- Last week's testimony from TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew "increased the likelihood that Congress will take some action" on the hugely popular and controversial social media app after his remarks on Capitol Hill failed to allay bipartisan worries over potential data privacy issues and Chinese government intrusion, Rep. Mike Gallagher said Sunday.

"They've actually united Republicans and Democrats out of the concern of allowing the [Chinese Communist Party] to control the most dominant media platform in America," he told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz of TikTok, which has 150 million monthly active American users.

Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican who chairs the House select committee on U.S. competition with China, touted legislation he and his committee's ranking member, Illinois Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, co-sponsored to either ban the app or force its sale to an American firm from Chinese parent company ByteDance.

Chinese officials have called such proposals overreach and unfair -- though China heavily restricts the use of the internet in its country -- and said they would resist a sale. Critics of the scrutiny say it hasn't applied to similar social media platforms.

MORE: TikTok CEO faces off with Congress, hoping to stave off possible ban over security fears

But Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi, appearing together on "This Week," told Raddatz that the risks warranted such moves.

Separately, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeted Sunday that the chamber would be "moving forward with legislation" on TikTok.

Krishnamoorthi pointed to Chew's inability to call out "spying" by some ByteDance employees on American journalists last year or to "acknowledge that there's a genocide going on with regard to the Uyghur people in Xinjiang province, in the northeast corner of China. Again, bowing to pressure from this Chinese Communist Party," he told Raddatz.

Both he and Gallagher also sounded skeptical of "Project Texas," an endeavor TikTok says will keep U.S. data stored in Texas and prevent access by Beijing but that lawmakers say is insufficient.

"There are whistleblowers coming forward saying that whatever the TikTok management is saying about Project Texas is a pack of lies," Krishnamoorthi said, while Gallagher said protections for Americans' data are only part of the larger issue.

"The key part that's missing from Project Texas' mitigation strategy is control of the algorithm. That's really what we need to address," Gallagher said. "It's not just exfiltrating data from an American phone, it's what they're able to push to Americans through the algorithm -- control our sense of reality, control the news, meddle in future elections."

SEE ALSO: Gap grows between TikTok users, lawmakers on potential ban

Chew's lengthy testimony on Thursday in front of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce sought to satisfy concerns that TikTok would be forced to hand over data on U.S. users if the Chinese government requested it.

"I think a lot of risks that are pointed out are hypothetical and theoretical risks," Chew insisted at one point. "I have not seen any evidence."

He also pushed back against worries that TikTok's algorithm could be used to sway public opinion, including with pro-China content and election misinformation.

But lawmakers on the panel were less than impressed, with Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., telling Chew, "Your platform should be banned."

"I think that it created more concerns, quite frankly," Krishnamoorthi told Raddatz on Sunday of Thursday's hearing. "I don't think that he did TikTok any favors."

Raddatz pressed Krishnamoorthi on his response to the potential political fallout from a TikTok ban, given its popularity with younger people.

"I think that good policy makes good politics," he said. "And in this particular case, we have to recognize that while TikTok is another social media app, and we have a generalized concern about these social media apps, it's different in kind from any other social media app because its parent company is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party."

Beyond TikTok, Raddatz also asked Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi -- who sit on the House Intelligence Committee -- about strikes on U.S. bases in Syria last week, which killed an American contractor and wounded several others, including service members and a contractor.

Iran-backed militias are thought to be responsible, and the U.S. has retaliated with airstrikes.

Gallagher said the attacks stemmed from a "crumbling" of "our deterrent posture vis--vis Iran" and said that "we can't afford another failure of deterrence like that, which we saw in Ukraine."

"Some practical steps going forward in my opinion would be to reimpose a policy of maximum economic pressure, abandon an attempt to resuscitate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal] as well as force the Pentagon to deliver" a report on U.S.-Israeli cooperation on technology to boost both countries' capabilities, Gallagher said.

"We need to have a clear-eyed view of the regime we're facing in Tehran," he said.

Krishnamoorthi said that the U.S. would not back away from the region and would continue counter-terrorism work there, despite the danger.

"[W]e're kind of targets of opportunity for these Iranian-backed militias. But we're not going anywhere. We have to stay in northern Syria, and work with our partners in Iraq as well in fighting ISIS [the Islamic State]," he said. "Unfortunately, we're going to have to deal with them appropriately, but we're not leaving that part of the world as we deal with ISIS."

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Congress closer to a TikTok ban or forced sale after CEO's ... - WLS-TV

As HBOs award-winning drama series Succession returns for its fourth and final season on Sunday, you may not realize that the show was inspired by families behind some of the biggest media empires.

The series follows aging patriarch Logan Roy, a mogul at the helm of the worlds largest media and entertainment conglomerate, and his four adult children, who are fighting for control over his empire as his health declines.

In an interview with HBO, Succession showrunner Jesse Armstrong said he and the writers thought of media moguls and their families such as Rupert Murdoch, William Hearst, and Robert and Rebekah Mercer of Breitbart, among others while working on the show.

Here's a look at the billionaire media families who were the inspiration behind this Emmy Award-winning series.

Rupert Murdoch is co-chairman of Fox Corporation and executive chairman of News Corp, parent of The Wall Street Journal, HarperCollins, and the New York Post. As of 2023, Rupert Murdoch has a net worth of $17.3 billion, according to Forbes.

Originally from Australia, Murdoch inherited a chain of newspapers at the age of 22 after his father died. Murdoch eventually expanded into the UK and the United States, acquiring newspapers including the San Antonio News, New York Magazine, and the Chicago Sun-Times. In 2007, Murdoch bought the Wall Street Journals parent company, Dow Jones for $6 billion from the Bancroft family, which had owned the company for a century.

Like Succession patriarch Roy, Murdoch, 92, still runs his empire, where he has helmed News Corp. since 2013. In March 2019, Murdoch sold most of 21st Century Foxs TV and movie assets to Disney for $71.3 billion.

Successions Waystar Royco owns a conservative-leaning television network, ATN, similar to Fox News, as well as various tabloids. The shows fictional media conglomerate also owns a website called Vaulter, similar to Vice. One of Murdochs sons, James Murdoch, is a board member of Vice Media and has owned a minority stake in the company since 2019.

Murdochs eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, is the executive chair and CEO of Fox, running the companys news, sports, and entertainment divisions. Murdoch has six children and has been married four times (and recently got engaged), while Successions Logan Roy has four children and has been married three times.

Named one of Americas richest families by Forbes in 2020, legacy medias Hearst family has a net worth of $21 billion. Hearst Corp., founded by William Randolph Hearst in 1887, owns magazines and newspapers such as Harpers Bazaar, Esquire, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Hearst also owns 33 television stations, stakes in several major networks such as Lifetime, ESPN, and A&E, and almost 260 magazines around the world. William Hearsts five sons followed in their fathers footsteps. Hearsts grandson, William R. Hearst III, is now chair of Hearst.

Much like the Roys in Succession, the Sulzbergers also kept their publishing legacy in the family. Arther G. Sulzberger, chairman of the New York Times Co., is the sixth member of the Ochs-Sulzberger family to serve as the publisher of the New York Times. In season two of Succession, patriarch Logan Roy wanted to acquire a media company controlled by the Pierce family, which Vanity Fair said was inspired by the Sulzbergers.

Millionaire hedge-fund manager and political donor Robert Mercer has an estimated net worth of $125 million, according to Forbes. He and his daughter, Rebekah Mercer, have invested millions of dollars into the conservative site Breitbart News. The Mercer family is known for their influence in media and politicsRobert Mercer spent $25 million on Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign.

Sumner Redstoneanother legacy media family like the Roys of Successioncontrolled ViacomCBS, which he acquired in 1987. The late media mogul had a net worth of $2.6 billion as of April 2020 before his death in August of that year, according to Forbes.

He also owned a private theater chain, National Amusements, which he inherited from his father. Sumners Viacom bought CBS in 1999 for $37.3 billionone of the largest media deals at the timeand it became ViacomCBS in December 2019. Redstones daughter, Shari, is the non-executive chair of ViacomCBS.

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Meet the Billionaire Media Families Who Inspired the Hit TV Series ... - Investopedia