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F R I DAY, M AY 19, 2 023
Board of Supervisors OKs pay hike Board members to make approximately $112,452 a year
Whistleblower: FBI manipulated Jan. 6 cases to make domestic terrorism appear widespread By CASEY HARPER THE CENTER SQUARE
(The Center Square) – A former FBI agent testified before Congress Thursday saying that the FBI manipulated data to make domestic terrorism linked to Jan. 6 seem like a nationwide phenomenon instead of an isolated incident. The revelation came as part of a hearing held by the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government where FBI whistleblowers testified before lawmakers about abuse and politicization of the FBI. They also testified about backlash they received, even losing their jobs as retaliation for refusing to toe the narrative established by FBI leadership. Steve Friend, a former FBI special agent who served five years on an FBI SWAT team and five years before that in local law enforcement in Georgia, made the claim about his former agency artificially inflating domestic terrorism data. “Typically you would investigate Jan. 6 as one case with lots of subjects, but instead the decision was made to open up a separate case for every single individual there,” he said during the hearing. “And instead of, on paper, investigating them from the Washington field office, spreading and disseminating those to the field offices around the country, and if the individual lived in that area.” “In effect,” he added. “It made it look like there was domestic terrorism cases and activities that were going on around the 56 field offices when in fact the cases were really all from Washington, D.C., and Washington had a task force that was responsible for calling the shots in all those cases.”
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors recently approved a $6,047 pay increase for board members. It will take effect in September. The supervisors, who meet at the County Administration Building in Santa Barbara, at right, gave themselves a 3% pay increase in 2021.
By ANNIKA BAHNSEN
member’s salaries will increase to about $112,452, which was made public by the county’s public information officer, Kelsey Buttitta. In 2021, supervisors gave themselves a 3% pay increase, and because this was so recent, the new salary will not go into effect until September. According to information provided at the May 2 Board of Supervisors’ meeting, the supervisors’ salaries are 30% below the market median and the market average for Southern California. The News-Press reached out to the supervisors for a comment, but there has been no response.
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has voted to increase supervisors’ salaries and benefits by $6,047 annually — a 5% increase. The board approved the hike at a recent meeting. The vote was 4-1 to increase the board’s salaries, with the only opposition coming from 4th District Supervisor Bob Nelson. Currently, each supervisor on the board makes about $107,097 a year, not including allowances and benefits, which is public knowledge made available on the county’s website (countyofsb.org). Now, with the pay increase, the board
email: abahnsen@newspress.com
Mr. Friend said this is part of a trend for the federal law enforcement agency, adding that the FBI’s National Security Branch “has refocused counterterrorism from legitimate foreign actors to political opponents within our borders.” The FBI had come under heavy fire for politicization on behalf of democratic interests in recent years. More evidence has emerged that the FBI may have played more of a role in inciting the events of Jan. 6 than previously thought. A Government Accountability Office report released in February found the FBI and Capitol Police were aware of threats ahead of Jan. 6 but did not do enough about it. The FBI has also been exposed for working with social media companies to censor Americans online, most notably by urging social media companies to shut down the Hunter Biden laptop story just before the 2020 election between President Joe Biden and thenpresident Donald Trump. Social media company representatives say they were told by the FBI that the story was Russian disinformation. That story has since been verified and is not disinformation, but not before the FBI’s decisions impacted the presidential election. These and other concerns have put the federal law enforcement agency under serious scrutiny, in particular from Republican lawmakers like U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, ROhio, who chaired Thursday’s committee hearing and called the FBI “an agency focused on politics.” The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Carbajal seeks change through bipartisan efforts Santa Barbara congressman backs legislation for infrastructure bank and investments in police By ANNIKA BAHNSEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal is aiming for change in multiple bipartisan efforts. One of them is infrastructure. In recognition of National Infrastructure Week, Reps. Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, and Daniel Webster, R-Fla. — senior leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee — introduced bipartisan legislation that would authorize the creation of a national infrastructure bank. The bank would be authorized to provide loans and loan guarantees to local infrastructure projects, giving local governments a potential funding source in addition to support provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law or other federal and state funding sources. Rep. Carbajal told the News-Press
that he is hopeful about his relationship with his colleague, Republican Rep. Webster, and the effort’s bipartisan spirit. “The letter (party affiliation) next to the name doesn’t change the fact that our nation’s infrastructure needs significant investments, and that’s been clear in working with my colleague Congressman Webster on this bill,” he said. Rep. Carbajal shared his desire for change and noted how change is only brought about from working together — even with those you may not necessarily agree with. “We’ve made it clear with bills like these that having functional roads, safe bridges, functional transit, clean water — these aren’t things that are political. They’re commonsense priorities, and as long as we’re working on those priorities, I think there will continue to be bipartisan support for them,” Rep.
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the bill. This isn’t the only legislation that Rep. Carbajal is working on that is a bipartisan bill. Recently, Rep. Carbajal announced that in recognition of National Police Week, he will join a bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers in reintroducing the Invest to Protect Act. This legislation will make critical, targeted investments in small and midsize police departments for the recruitment, retention, mental health support, and training they need to protect themselves and their communities. Rep. Carbajal explained he is committed to positive change in his community, and he hopes that these two bills — infrastructure and investments in police — will help residents’ way of life. email: abahnsen@newspress.com
Rep. Salud Carbajal
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Carbajal told the News-Press. Rep. Carbajal said he is hoping to see infrastructure progress being made in the near future in local communities. He said this is a “win-win for municipal infrastructure projects and the private dollars that can help fund them.” He also noted that for Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria residents, this legislation will make major improvements to our areas. “As a veteran of local government in our region, I know that opening up an additional funding source for our long list of needed improvements would make a big difference in carrying out the plans that our city councils and county boards of supervisors have for improving our region,” he said. Rep. Carbajal noted he is “eager to build on this momentum in the coming weeks and months” and that “bipartisan support is critical” for the completion of
Sudoku................. B3 Weather................ A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 1-11-23-35-37 Mega: 13
Thursday’s DAILY 4: 3-9-3-7
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 15-34-36-69-70 Mega: 17
Thursday’s FANTASY 5: 6-22-31-32-35
Thursday’s DAILY DERBY: 08-05-11 Time: 1:43.43
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 18-34-37-45-51 Meganumber: 14
Thursday’s DAILY 3: 7-9-4 / Midday 2-1-4