Guest opinion: Even in a world of stubborn never-Trumpers, Evan McMullin is still wrong for Utah by Jared Whitley This year is going to be the mother of all red waves, and the Republican candidates that wave brings to Washington are our best hope for putting American back on course. But will this wave help things here in Utah? In Utah, we have Evan McMullin. If you havenât heard of him, McMullin ran for president in 2016 to deep-six Trumpâs campaign, and this year heâs trying to do the same to Sen. Mike Lee. While McMullin has always run as an independent, he is transparently a globalist, big-government, establishment politician. He supported Hillary Clinton in 2016, endorsed Joe Biden in 2020, and fought to keep Ben McAdams in Congress. As a former CIA operative, he is trained in the art of deception, and is trying to deceive the people of Utah that he is an independent who is conservative enough for Republicans, yet hateful of the Trump wing of the party to garner votes from Democrats. It might be easy to call McMullinâs âno really, Iâm a conservative, you guysâ act treachery, but his interest could be financial. See, McMullinâs quixotic presidential campaign left him about $600,000 in debt. Since then, heâs played a political shell-game where he started a nonprofit â Stand Up Republican Foundation, Inc â and used donations to pay himself. According to his own tax documents, obtained by Influence Watch and Pro Publica, the Stand Up Republic Foundation (also known as Stand Up Ideas, Inc.) raised millions and much of it went to the partnership McMullin Finn, LLC, in 2017 and 2018. The appearance of self-dealing may not be illegal, but it sure stinks and appears to be an example of a guy setting up a non-profit to become a millionaire at the expense of donors. (Read More) News Releases Governor signs historic funding for education Today, Gov. Spencer J. Cox signed 78 bills and allowed one bill to become law without his signature. This brings the total number of signed, vetoed or law-without-signature pieces of legislation from the 2022 General Legislative Session to 499. SB 2, which sets the education budget, includes a 6% increase for the weighted pupil unit (WPU), sets the estimated basic levy rate, and appropriates new funding for a variety of public education purposes. (Read More) Governor signs 104 bills of the 2022 General Legislative Session and allows two bills to become law without his signature Today, Gov. Spencer J. Cox signed 104 bills and allowed two bills to become law without his signature. This brings the total number of signed pieces of legislation from the 2022 General Legislative Session to 420. (Read More) Rep. Stewart introduces the Intelligence Community Authorities Clarification Act Today, Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) introduced the Intelligence Community Authorities Clarification Act. The Intelligence Community (IC) â including the CIA, National Security Agency, National Counterterrorism Center and more â is designed to combat foreign adversaries and threats, such as terrorist organizations. Unfortunately, the Biden administration is turning the massive powers of the IC inward, toward the American people. This legislation will put a wall between U.S. intelligence agencies and U.S. citizens, preventing the IC from spying on Americans. (Read More) Romney, Markey announce subcommittee hearing on the assault on freedom of expression in Asia U.S. Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Mitt Romney (R-UT), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, released the following statement today announcing a subcommittee hearing next week. âWe are pleased to announce that the East Asia Subcommittee will hold a hearing featuring three outstanding witnesses to examine how the United States can take a greater leadership role to protect freedom of expression in the Asia Pacific region and support journalists, activists, and everyday citizens who risk their lives to exercise and maintain this basic human right,â said Senators Markey and Romney in a joint statement. âAcross Asia, freedom of expression is under attack as authoritarian governments, often taking their cues from China, draw from the same playbook to suppress, censor, and stifle non-violent free speech, media, assembly, and religion.â (Read More) Sen. Lee advocates for Ukrainian orphans Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) led a bicameral letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken advocating that the State Department assist Ukrainian refugees and aid American families who have already begun the process of adopting Ukrainian orphans. The letter asks the Department of State to aid the Ukrainian government to establish a consular office in Poland to process paperwork required for adoption. The letter further asks about current State Department efforts to aid Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees. The letter reads in part, âWe write to thank you for the work of the United States Department of State to assist the people of Ukraine during this crisis and to make you aware of a particular group of orphans amongst the many fleeing the country. There are families already towards the very end of the process to adopt Ukrainian orphans, and they are waiting for approval from the Ukrainian government to be united with their adopted children on U.S. soil.â (Read More) | 