Winnipeg Free Press Newspaper Archives Sep 5 2015, Page 25

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 5, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A26 A 26 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2015 WORLD winnipegfreepress. com MOREHEAD, Ky. — A jailed Kentucky clerk asserted marriage licenses issued without her authority Friday to gay couples in Rowan County are void and “ not worth the paper they are written on” because she didn’t authorize them, her attorney said. Kim Davis now wears an orange jumpsuit and “ has already been doing Bible studies with herself” in jail, her attorney Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel told reporters after meeting with her behind bars. He said Davis is in very good spirits, and is prepared to stay as long as it takes to uphold her religious freedoms. “ She’s not going to resign, she’s not going to sacrifice her conscience, so she’s doing what Martin Luther King Jr. wrote about in his Letter from the Birmingham Jail, which is to pay the consequences for her decision,” Staver said. Meanwhile, Staver said he’s preparing to appeal U. S. District Judge David Bunning’s contempt finding as one of several legal challenges on her behalf. The vast majority of officials across the U. S. have agreed to issue licences since the U. S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in June. But Davis had turned away couples again and again in defiance of a series of federal court orders, citing her religious beliefs. At least three gay couples received marriage licences Friday from one of Davis’ deputies, celebrating after repeatedly being turned away before Davis was jailed Thursday. Marriage licences in Kentucky usually have the elected clerk’s signature on them; those handed out Friday lacked any signature. The Rowan County attorney and lawyers for the gay couples said they are legal and valid nevertheless. When the judge was asked if the licences will be considered valid without Davis’s authorization, he said it was up to the gay couples to take that chance. William Smith Jr. and James Yates, a couple for nearly a decade, were the first through the door. Deputy clerk Brian Mason congratulated the couple, shook their hands and accepted their fee of $ 35.50. Yates then rushed across the courthouse steps to hug his mom. “ Civil rights are civil rights, and they are not subject to belief,” said Yates, who had been denied a license five times previously. A crowd of supporters cheered and a street preacher rained down words of condemnation as they left. Yates and Smith said they are trying to choose between two wedding dates and plan a small ceremony. Davis had refused to issue any marriage licences rather than comply with the U. S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June legalizing gay marriage nationwide. After ordering her to jail, the judge told her six deputy clerks they too faced potential fines or jail time if they similarly refused. All but one — the clerk’s son, Nathan Davis — agreed to end her church- state standoff. A second couple, Timothy and Michael Long, got their licence later Friday, enduring a taunt of “ More sodomites getting married?” from a man inside the office. The Longs did not respond, and a worker told the man to leave. A third couple, April Miller and Karen Roberts, got their licence around midday. “ Now we can breathe. I’m still ecstatic and happy. I just can’t wait to get married now,” Roberts said. The judge offered to release Davis if she promises not to interfere with issuing of licences, but she refused. Davis’s husband, Joe Davis, was at the courthouse Friday, holding a sign saying “ Welcome to Sodom and Gomorrah.” He said his wife was in good spirits after her first night in jail. Asked if she would resign, he said, “ Oh, God no. She’s not going to resign at all. It’s a matter of telling Bunning he ain’t the boss.” The judge warned Davis’s son, who said he supports his mother, not to interfere with fellow employees. The judge said he did not want “ any shenanigans,” such as closing the office for computer upgrades as they did briefly last week. “ That would show a level of disrespect for the court’s order,” Bunning said. — The Associated Press W ASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday her use of a private email system at the State Department wasn’t the “ best choice” and acknowledged she didn’t “ stop and think” about her email set- up when she became U. S. President Barack Obama’s secretary of state in 2009. The Democratic presidential frontrunner said in an interview with NBC News she was immediately confronted by a number of global hot spots after joining the new Obama administration as its top diplomat and didn’t think much about her email after arriving at her new job. “ You know, I was not thinking a lot when I got in. There was so much work to be done. We had so many problems around the world,” Clinton said. “ I didn’t really stop and think what kind of email system will there be?” But Clinton did not apologize for her decision when asked directly, “ Are you sorry?” Instead, she again said she wishes she had “ made a different choice” and that she takes responsibility for the decision to use a private email account and server based at her home in suburban New York. She added it was a choice that should not raise questions about her judgment. “ I am very confident that by the time this campaign has run its course, people will know that what I’ve been saying is accurate,” Clinton said, adding: “ They may disagree, as I now disagree, with the choice that I made. But the facts that I have put forth have remained the same.” Republicans criticized Clinton’s unwillingness to apologize for the decision and said it underscored polls that have shown large numbers of people questioning her trustworthiness. “ What’s clear is Hillary Clinton regrets that she got caught and is paying a political price, not the fact her secret email server put our national security at risk,” said Michael Short, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee. The conversation about emails led off a wide- ranging interview that included Vice- President Joe Biden’s interest in a potential Democratic primary bid, Clinton’s plans to address the Iran nuclear deal and her views of Republican front- runner Donald Trump. Following a summer in which both Trump and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Clinton’s chief rival for the Democratic nomination, drew large campaign audiences, Clinton sought to cast her candidacy as one rooted in tackling the problems “ that keep families up at night.” “ Because I think you can come with your own ideas and you can, you know, wave your arms and give a speech, but at the end of the day, are you connecting with and really hearing what people are either saying to you or wishing that you would say to them?” she said. Clinton’s interview comes as current and former aides are testifying before a congressional panel investigating the deadly 2012 Benghazi attacks. The committee has also delved into Clinton’s email practices at the State Department. She is scheduled to testify publicly before the panel next month. Clinton in August handed over to the FBI her private server, which she used to send, receive and store emails during her four years as secretary of state. Clinton has said she set up her own system instead of using a State Department account for the convenience of using a single BlackBerry device. But her comments that she didn’t stop to think about setting up a private email server in her home belied the careful planning and technical sophistication required to set up, operate, maintain and protect a private server effectively — especially one responsible for the confidential communications of the U. S. government’s top diplomat as she travelled the globe. Even homebrew servers typically require careful configuration, Internet registration, data backups, regular security audits and a secondary power supply in case of electrical problems. In the interview, Clinton said, as she has in the past, that she “ should have had two accounts, one for personal and one for work- related.” Thousands of pages of her emails publicly released in recent months have shown Clinton received messages that were later determined to contain classified information, including some that contained material regarding the production and dissemination of U. S. intelligence. But Clinton reiterated that she did not “ send or receive any material marked classified. We dealt with classified material on a totally different system. I dealt with it in person.” Clinton also addressed other topics. On Iran, Clinton noted her support for an Obama- backed agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions and said she would address what she would do as president to enforce the deal, hold Iran accountable and “ make clear that no options were off the table. That they can never ever have a nuclear weapon.” On Trump, Clinton suggested Trump, the leading GOP candidate at this juncture, did not have the temperament to lead the nation and conduct foreign policy. “ Loose talk, threats, insults, they have consequences. So I’m going to conduct myself as I believe is appropriate for someone seeking the highest office in our country,” she said. On Biden, Clinton declined to offer a comparison to the vice- president and fellow Democrat, saying he had a “ really difficult decision” to make. — The Associated Press ‘ I didn’t stop and think’ Clinton too busy working to ponder use of private email By Ken Thomas CHARLIE NEIBERGALL / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Republicans have seized upon the email controversy to attack Hillary Clinton. TIMOTHY D. EASLEY / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS James Yates ( left) hugs his partner, William Smith Jr., after getting their marriage licence in Rowan County Friday. Marriage licences issued as anti- gay clerk sent to jail Vows to tell judge ‘ he ain’t the boss’ By Adam Beam WASHINGTON — A top conservative group is trying to coax wealthy Republican donors to help fund a multimillion- dollar ad campaign and other efforts against Donald Trump — the latest sign of growing anxiety within GOP circles over the businessman’s dominance in the 2016 race. But some GOP funders are skeptical of the plan, fearing it will only fuel Trump’s outsider pitch. The lack of consensus illustrates how Trump, for the moment, is a problem without a clear solution in the eyes of party leaders worried his controversial rhetoric and tactics are hurting the Republican brand. Officials with the Club for Growth — a prominent anti- tax group that frequently targets Republicans it deems insufficiently conservative — said Friday the organization began reaching out to its network of donors in recent weeks to help pay for an anti- Trump TV ad blitz. The organization’s super PAC, Club for Growth Action, would run the ads, the group said. “ What we’ve said to our members is that ‘ Trump is a liability to the future of the nation,’ and we’ve asked them for support for Club for Growth Action to get that message out,” Club for Growth president David McIntosh said in a statement to the Washington Post . “ We’re also doing research, like we do on candidates, into his economic policy positions. At this point, we haven’t taken anything off the table — be it TV ads or any other means — to expose Trump as not being an economic conservative, and as actually being the worst kind of politician.” Trump bashed the Club for Growth for its decision and said, as he has previously, that McIntosh asked him in June to donate $ 1 million to the group. “ They’re critical of me because I wouldn’t give them a million dollars,” Trump said in the Post interview. “ They came to my office, the president of the Club for Growth came to my office; he asked for a million dollars. He asked for it in writing, just to show you how truly stupid he is. I said, ‘ You must be kidding.’ I had no interest in doing it. … We told them no, and immediately thereafter, he came after Trump.” Some top GOP donors pitched on the idea of attacking Trump think that any effort to go after the real estate developer and former celebrity TV host could backfire, said a person familiar with the conversations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment frankly. Mary Beth Weiss — a longtime Club for Growth donor with her husband, money manager Richard Weiss — said Trump has tapped into the kind of outsider sentiment the group has long sought to harness. “ Honestly, ‘ The Donald’ is doing them a favour and sending a message to Washington,” Mary Beth Weiss said. “ Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina and Trump are leading the field, and they’re all Washington outsiders.” Weiss said she likes candidates Fiorina, a former chief executive of Hewlett- Packard; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker; and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio but would support Trump if he were the nominee. “ I would be happier writing a cheque to Donald Trump than ( to former Florida governor Jeb) Bush, honestly,” she said. While there is acute anxiety in the GOP about Trump’s rise, no organized effort to undercut him has emerged. Among those staying out of the fray are donors allied with billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, who are sticking with plans to avoid involvement in the primary process, according to people familiar with internal discussions and who also spoke on the condition of anonymity. McIntosh said most of the feedback he has received to his plan has been on strategy. “ The questions I’ve heard are more in the realm of how to expose Trump,” he said. “ And that’s where we’re looking for the best approach.” The effort comes as Bush, a frequent target of Trump’s taunts, has ramped up his attacks against the real estate mogul, on the trail and in online advertising. Trump has shot to the top of early state and national polls over the past two months with his brash pitch to deport illegal immigrants and to “ make America great again.” — Washington Post GOP faction wants to hold the Trump card Embarks on bid to oust The Donald from race By Sean Sullivan and Matea Gold ‘ Civil rights are civil rights, and they are not subject to belief’ RICHARD SHIRO / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Donald Trump claims the Club for Growth is angered by his refusal to donate $ 1 million. ‘ What we’ve said to our members is that “ Trump is a liability to the future of the nation” ’ — Club for Growth president David McIntosh A_ 26_ Sep- 05- 15_ FP_ 01. indd A26 9/ 4/ 15 9: 10: 20 PM