Today is Saturday, Aug. 8, the 221st day of 2020. There are 145 days left in the year. 

On August 8, 1974, President Richard Nixon, facing damaging new revelations in the Watergate scandal, announced he would resign the following day. 

In 1814, during the War of 1812, peace talks between the United States and Britain began in Ghent, Belgium.

In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena to spend the remainder of his days in exile. 

In 1911, President William Howard Taft signed a measure raising the number of U.S. representatives from 391 to 433, effective with the next Congress, with a proviso to add two more when New Mexico and Arizona became states.

In 1942, during World War II, six Nazi saboteurs who were captured after landing in the U.S. were executed in Washington, D.C.; two others who cooperated with authorities were spared. 

In 1945, President Harry S. Truman signed the U.S. instrument of ratification for the United Nations Charter. The Soviet Union declared war against Japan during World War II. 

In 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew branded as "damned lies" reports he had taken kickbacks from government contracts in Maryland, and vowed not to resign — which he ended up doing. 

In 1994, Israel and Jordan opened the first road link between the two once-warring countries.

In 2000, the wreckage of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, which sank in 1864 after attacking the Union ship Housatonic, was recovered off the South Carolina coast and returned to port. 

In 2003, the Boston Roman Catholic archdiocese offered $55 million to settle more than 500 lawsuits stemming from alleged sex abuse by priests. (The archdiocese later settled for $85 million.) 

In 2006, Roger Goodell was chosen as the NFL's next commissioner. 

In 2008, China opened the Summer Olympic Games with an extravaganza of fireworks and pageantry. 

In 2009, Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as the U.S. Supreme Court's first Hispanic and third female justice. 

Ten years ago: Flooding in Gansu province in China resulted in mudslides that killed more than 1,400 people. Academy Award-winning film star Patricia Neal died in Edgartown, Massachusetts, at 84.

Five years ago: Several rivals of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized his treatment of a debate moderator; Trump refused to apologize for saying on CNN that Megyn Kelly, who had aggressively questioned him during the primary debate on Fox News, had "blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever" when she asked him about his incendiary comments toward women.

One year ago: Just days after a shooting at a Texas Walmart killed 22 people, a man carrying a rifle and wearing body armor walked around a Walmart in Springfield, Missouri, causing panicked shoppers to flee; police said the man told them he was testing whether Walmart would honor his right to bear arms. (Dmitriy Andreychenko later pleaded guilty to making a false report after initially being charged with a more serious terrorism-related felony.)

Today's Birthdays: Actor Nita Talbot is 90. Actor Dustin Hoffman is 83. Actor Connie Stevens is 82. Country singer Phil Balsley (The Statler Brothers) is 81. Actor Larry Wilcox is 73. Actor Keith Carradine is 71. Movie director Martin Brest is 69. Radio-TV personality Robin Quivers is 68. Percussionist Anton Fig is 67. Actor Donny Most is 67. Rock musician Dennis Drew (10,000 Maniacs) is 63. TV personality Deborah Norville is 62. Former actor Harry Crosby is 62. Rock musician The Edge (U2) is 59. Rock musician Rikki Rockett (Poison) is 59. Rapper Kool Moe Dee is 58. Rock musician Ralph Rieckermann is 58. Middle distance runner Suzy Favor Hamilton is 52. Rock singer Scott Stapp is 47. Country singer Mark Wills is 47. Actor Kohl Sudduth is 46. Rock musician Tom Linton (Jimmy Eat World) is 45. Singer JC Chasez ('N Sync) is 44. Actor Tawny Cypress is 44. Rhythm-and-blues singer Drew Lachey (98 Degrees) is 44. Rhythm-and-blues singer Marsha Ambrosius is 43. Actor Lindsay Sloane is 43. Actor Countess Vaughn is 42. Actor Michael Urie is 40. Tennis player Roger Federer is 39. Actor Meagan Good is 39. Rock musician Eric Howk (Portugal. The Man) is 39. Actor Jackie Cruz (TV: "Orange is the New Black") is 36. Britain's Princess Beatrice of York is 32. Actor Ken Baumann is 31. Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo is 31. Pop singer Shawn Mendes is 22. Actor Bebe Wood (TV: "The Real O'Neals") is 19.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573488868914.jpeg" alt="Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a>" />
 <figcaption>Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a></figcaption>
 </figure>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSToday is Saturday, Aug. 8, the 221st day of 2020. There are 145 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On August 8, 1974, President Richard Nixon, facing damaging new revelations in the Watergate scandal, announced he would resign the following day. On this date: In 1814, during the War of 1812, peace talks between the United States and Britain began in Ghent, Belgium.In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena to spend the remainder of his days in exile. In 1911, President William Howard Taft signed a measure raising the number of U.S. representatives from 391 to 433, effective with the next Congress, with a proviso to add two more when New Mexico and Arizona became states.In 1942, during World War II, six Nazi saboteurs who were captured after landing in the U.S. were executed in Washington, D.C.; two others who cooperated with authorities were spared. In 1945, President Harry S. Truman signed the U.S. instrument of ratification for the United Nations Charter. The Soviet Union declared war against Japan during World War II. In 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew branded as "damned lies" reports he had taken kickbacks from government contracts in Maryland, and vowed not to resign — which he ended up doing. In 1994, Israel and Jordan opened the first road link between the two once-warring countries.In 2000, the wreckage of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, which sank in 1864 after attacking the Union ship Housatonic, was recovered off the South Carolina coast and returned to port. In 2003, the Boston Roman Catholic archdiocese offered $55 million to settle more than 500 lawsuits stemming from alleged sex abuse by priests. (The archdiocese later settled for $85 million.) In 2006, Roger Goodell was chosen as the NFL's next commissioner. In 2008, China opened the Summer Olympic Games with an extravaganza of fireworks and pageantry. In 2009, Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as the U.S. Supreme Court's first Hispanic and third female justice. Ten years ago: Flooding in Gansu province in China resulted in mudslides that killed more than 1,400 people. Academy Award-winning film star Patricia Neal died in Edgartown, Massachusetts, at 84.Five years ago: Several rivals of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized his treatment of a debate moderator; Trump refused to apologize for saying on CNN that Megyn Kelly, who had aggressively questioned him during the primary debate on Fox News, had "blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever" when she asked him about his incendiary comments toward women. One year ago: Just days after a shooting at a Texas Walmart killed 22 people, a man carrying a rifle and wearing body armor walked around a Walmart in Springfield, Missouri, causing panicked shoppers to flee; police said the man told them he was testing whether Walmart would honor his right to bear arms. (Dmitriy Andreychenko later pleaded guilty to making a false report after initially being charged with a more serious terrorism-related felony.) Today's Birthdays: Actor Nita Talbot is 90. Actor Dustin Hoffman is 83. Actor Connie Stevens is 82. Country singer Phil Balsley (The Statler Brothers) is 81. Actor Larry Wilcox is 73. Actor Keith Carradine is 71. Movie director Martin Brest is 69. Radio-TV personality Robin Quivers is 68. Percussionist Anton Fig is 67. Actor Donny Most is 67. Rock musician Dennis Drew (10,000 Maniacs) is 63. TV personality Deborah Norville is 62. Former actor Harry Crosby is 62. Rock musician The Edge (U2) is 59. Rock musician Rikki Rockett (Poison) is 59. Rapper Kool Moe Dee is 58. Rock musician Ralph Rieckermann is 58. Middle distance runner Suzy Favor Hamilton is 52. Rock singer Scott Stapp is 47. Country singer Mark Wills is 47. Actor Kohl Sudduth is 46. Rock musician Tom Linton (Jimmy Eat World) is 45. Singer JC Chasez ('N Sync) is 44. Actor Tawny Cypress is 44. Rhythm-and-blues singer Drew Lachey (98 Degrees) is 44. Rhythm-and-blues singer Marsha Ambrosius is 43. Actor Lindsay Sloane is 43. Actor Countess Vaughn is 42. Actor Michael Urie is 40. Tennis player Roger Federer is 39. Actor Meagan Good is 39. Rock musician Eric Howk (Portugal. The Man) is 39. Actor Jackie Cruz (TV: "Orange is the New Black") is 36. Britain's Princess Beatrice of York is 32. Actor Ken Baumann is 31. Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo is 31. Pop singer Shawn Mendes is 22. Actor Bebe Wood (TV: "The Real O'Neals") is 19.

Today in History -- Aug. 8

I’m single, and I’ll be a pilot in the military for
the next 10 years. I’m also debt-free, have a fully funded emergency fund, and
I’m saving 15% of my income for retirement. After my military days are over, I
plan to work as a commercial pilot. I’ve done the math, and I have about
$20,000 a year to give, have fun with and build wealth. My question is about
wealth building. When it comes to rental properties, I know you don’t like the
idea of a long-distance landlord. Being in the military, there’s a good chance
I’ll move around a bit. What should I do?&nbsp;


First, thank you for your service to our country. And,
wow! You’re in a tremendous position financially and career-wise. You’ve got a
great future ahead of you as a pilot in the military and after, plus
you’ve followed my plan item by item. You’ve got so many options, and you can
make a difference in your community and in the lives around you right now by <a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/give-a-little-until-you-can-give-a-lot">giving.</a>

When it comes to wealth building, I hope you’ve
already taken advantage of the TSP, or Thrift Savings Plan, which is kind of
the military version of the 401(k). For wealth building beyond that, I’d get
with a good investment pro—one with the heart of a teacher—and dive into some
growth stock mutual funds. You could have a lot of money piled up just by the
end of your military career. Who knows? You may even be able to <a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/mortgage-questions">buy
a nice home</a> with cash when you leave the service.
Beyond that, you may be able to settle into some real estate and pay cash for
those investments.

You are one cool, smart lady, Rachel. Congratulations
on setting yourself up for a wonderful life—one where you can live and
give like no one else!

Dave Ramsey is CEO of
Ramsey Solutions. He has authored seven best-selling books, including The Total Money Makeover. The
Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 16 million listeners each week on 600
radio stations and multiple digital platforms. Follow Dave on the web at <a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/">daveramsey.com</a>
and on Twitter at @DaveRamsey.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596845065840.jpeg" alt="Dave Ramsey" />
 <figcaption>Dave Ramsey</figcaption>
 </figure>Dear Dave,I’m single, and I’ll be a pilot in the military for
the next 10 years. I’m also debt-free, have a fully funded emergency fund, and
I’m saving 15% of my income for retirement. After my military days are over, I
plan to work as a commercial pilot. I’ve done the math, and I have about
$20,000 a year to give, have fun with and build wealth. My question is about
wealth building. When it comes to rental properties, I know you don’t like the
idea of a long-distance landlord. Being in the military, there’s a good chance
I’ll move around a bit. What should I do?&nbsp;
RachelDear Rachel,First, thank you for your service to our country. And,
wow! You’re in a tremendous position financially and career-wise. You’ve got a
great future ahead of you as a pilot in the military and after, plus
you’ve followed my plan item by item. You’ve got so many options, and you can
make a difference in your community and in the lives around you right now by <a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/give-a-little-until-you-can-give-a-lot">giving.</a> When it comes to wealth building, I hope you’ve
already taken advantage of the TSP, or Thrift Savings Plan, which is kind of
the military version of the 401(k). For wealth building beyond that, I’d get
with a good investment pro—one with the heart of a teacher—and dive into some
growth stock mutual funds. You could have a lot of money piled up just by the
end of your military career. Who knows? You may even be able to <a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/mortgage-questions">buy
a nice home</a> with cash when you leave the service.
Beyond that, you may be able to settle into some real estate and pay cash for
those investments. You are one cool, smart lady, Rachel. Congratulations
on setting yourself up for a wonderful life—one where you can live and
give like no one else!—DaveDave Ramsey is CEO of
Ramsey Solutions. He has authored seven best-selling books, including The Total Money Makeover. The
Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 16 million listeners each week on 600
radio stations and multiple digital platforms. Follow Dave on the web at <a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/">daveramsey.com</a>
and on Twitter at @DaveRamsey.

DAVE SAYS: This lady’s getting it done!

Today is Friday, Aug. 7, the 220th day of 2020. There are 146 days left in the year. 

On August 7, 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces. 

In 1782, Gen. George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart, a decoration to recognize merit in enlisted men and noncommissioned officers. 

In 1789, the U.S. Department of War was established by Congress. 

In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt was nominated for president by the Progressive Party (also known as the Bull Moose Party) in Chicago. New Jersey Gov. Woodrow Wilson accepted the Democratic presidential nomination at his summer home in Sea Girt.

In 1942, U.S. and other allied forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II. (Japanese forces abandoned the island the following February.) 

In 1957, Oliver Hardy, who starred for decades in popular film comedies with partner Stan Laurel, died in North Hollywood, California, at age 65.

In 1959, the United States launched the Explorer 6 satellite, which sent back images of Earth. 

In 1971, the Apollo 15 moon mission ended successfully as its command module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. 

In 1989, a plane carrying U.S. Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Texas, and 14 others disappeared over Ethiopia. (The wreckage of the plane was found six days later; there were no survivors.) 

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq.

In 1998, terrorist bombs at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people, including 12 Americans. 

In 2000, Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore selected Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate; Lieberman became the first Jewish candidate on a major party's presidential ticket. 

In 2017, medical examiners said the remains of a man who'd been killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11 had been identified, nearly 16 years after the attacks. 

Ten years ago: Elena Kagan was sworn in as the 112th justice and fourth woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. A healthy-looking Fidel Castro appealed to President Barack Obama to stave off global nuclear war in an address to parliament that marked his first official government appearance since emergency surgery four years earlier. Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, John Randle, Dick LeBeau, Rickey Jackson, Russ Grimm and Floyd Little were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Five years ago: Colorado theater shooter James Holmes was spared the death penalty in favor of life in prison after a jury in Centennial failed to agree on whether he should be executed for his murderous attack on a packed movie premiere that left 12 people dead. Former Food and Drug Administration employee Dr. Frances Kelsey, credited with preventing the U.S. distribution of thalidomide, a drug blamed for serious birth defects in the early 1960s, died in London, Ontario, Canada at age 101. Louise Suggs, 91, an LPGA founder and Hall of Famer, died in Sarasota, Florida.

One year ago: President Donald Trump and his wife visited the Dayton, Ohio hospital where many of the victims of a weekend shooting attack had been treated; they then flew to El Paso, where a shooting at a Walmart had killed 22 people. Cyntoia Brown was released early from the Tennessee Prison for Women, where she'd been serving a life sentence for killing a man who had picked her up for sex at the age of 16; Brown, who was now 31, had been championed by celebrities as a symbol of unfair sentencing. In his most aggressive attack yet on the character of the man he hoped to replace, Joe Biden accused President Donald Trump of "fanning the flames of white supremacy." Puerto Rico's Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez became the island's new governor, just hours after Puerto Rico's Supreme Court declared that the swearing-in of Pedro Pierluisi a week earlier had been unconstitutional.

Today's Birthdays: Magician, author and lecturer James Randi is 92. Singer B.J. Thomas is 78. Singer Lana Cantrell is 77. Former FBI Director Robert Mueller is 76. Actor John Glover is 76. Actor David Rasche is 76. Former diplomat, talk show host and activist Alan Keyes is 70. Country singer Rodney Crowell is 70. Actor Caroline Aaron is 68. Comedian Alexei Sayle is 68. Actor Wayne Knight is 65. Rock singer Bruce Dickinson is 62. Marathon runner Alberto Salazar is 62. Actor David Duchovny is 60. Country musician Michael Mahler (Wild Horses) is 59. Actor Delane Matthews is 59. Actor Harold Perrineau is 57. Jazz musician Marcus Roberts is 57. Country singer Raul Malo is 55. Actor David Mann is 54. Actor Charlotte Lewis is 53. Actor Sydney Penny is 49. Actor Greg Serano is 48. Actor Michael Shannon is 46. Actor Charlize Theron is 45. Rock musician Barry Kerch is 44. Actor Eric Johnson is 41. Actor Randy Wayne is 39. Actor-writer Brit Marling is 38. NHL center Sidney Crosby is 33. MLB All-Star Mike Trout is 29. Actor Liam James is 24.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573488868914.jpeg" alt="Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a>" />
 <figcaption>Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a></figcaption>
 </figure>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSToday is Friday, Aug. 7, the 220th day of 2020. There are 146 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On August 7, 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces. On this date: In 1782, Gen. George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart, a decoration to recognize merit in enlisted men and noncommissioned officers. In 1789, the U.S. Department of War was established by Congress. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt was nominated for president by the Progressive Party (also known as the Bull Moose Party) in Chicago. New Jersey Gov. Woodrow Wilson accepted the Democratic presidential nomination at his summer home in Sea Girt.In 1942, U.S. and other allied forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II. (Japanese forces abandoned the island the following February.) In 1957, Oliver Hardy, who starred for decades in popular film comedies with partner Stan Laurel, died in North Hollywood, California, at age 65.In 1959, the United States launched the Explorer 6 satellite, which sent back images of Earth. In 1971, the Apollo 15 moon mission ended successfully as its command module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. In 1989, a plane carrying U.S. Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Texas, and 14 others disappeared over Ethiopia. (The wreckage of the plane was found six days later; there were no survivors.) In 1990, President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq.In 1998, terrorist bombs at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people, including 12 Americans. In 2000, Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore selected Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate; Lieberman became the first Jewish candidate on a major party's presidential ticket. In 2017, medical examiners said the remains of a man who'd been killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11 had been identified, nearly 16 years after the attacks. Ten years ago: Elena Kagan was sworn in as the 112th justice and fourth woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. A healthy-looking Fidel Castro appealed to President Barack Obama to stave off global nuclear war in an address to parliament that marked his first official government appearance since emergency surgery four years earlier. Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, John Randle, Dick LeBeau, Rickey Jackson, Russ Grimm and Floyd Little were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.Five years ago: Colorado theater shooter James Holmes was spared the death penalty in favor of life in prison after a jury in Centennial failed to agree on whether he should be executed for his murderous attack on a packed movie premiere that left 12 people dead. Former Food and Drug Administration employee Dr. Frances Kelsey, credited with preventing the U.S. distribution of thalidomide, a drug blamed for serious birth defects in the early 1960s, died in London, Ontario, Canada at age 101. Louise Suggs, 91, an LPGA founder and Hall of Famer, died in Sarasota, Florida.One year ago: President Donald Trump and his wife visited the Dayton, Ohio hospital where many of the victims of a weekend shooting attack had been treated; they then flew to El Paso, where a shooting at a Walmart had killed 22 people. Cyntoia Brown was released early from the Tennessee Prison for Women, where she'd been serving a life sentence for killing a man who had picked her up for sex at the age of 16; Brown, who was now 31, had been championed by celebrities as a symbol of unfair sentencing. In his most aggressive attack yet on the character of the man he hoped to replace, Joe Biden accused President Donald Trump of "fanning the flames of white supremacy." Puerto Rico's Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez became the island's new governor, just hours after Puerto Rico's Supreme Court declared that the swearing-in of Pedro Pierluisi a week earlier had been unconstitutional.Today's Birthdays: Magician, author and lecturer James Randi is 92. Singer B.J. Thomas is 78. Singer Lana Cantrell is 77. Former FBI Director Robert Mueller is 76. Actor John Glover is 76. Actor David Rasche is 76. Former diplomat, talk show host and activist Alan Keyes is 70. Country singer Rodney Crowell is 70. Actor Caroline Aaron is 68. Comedian Alexei Sayle is 68. Actor Wayne Knight is 65. Rock singer Bruce Dickinson is 62. Marathon runner Alberto Salazar is 62. Actor David Duchovny is 60. Country musician Michael Mahler (Wild Horses) is 59. Actor Delane Matthews is 59. Actor Harold Perrineau is 57. Jazz musician Marcus Roberts is 57. Country singer Raul Malo is 55. Actor David Mann is 54. Actor Charlotte Lewis is 53. Actor Sydney Penny is 49. Actor Greg Serano is 48. Actor Michael Shannon is 46. Actor Charlize Theron is 45. Rock musician Barry Kerch is 44. Actor Eric Johnson is 41. Actor Randy Wayne is 39. Actor-writer Brit Marling is 38. NHL center Sidney Crosby is 33. MLB All-Star Mike Trout is 29. Actor Liam James is 24.

Today in History -- Aug. 7

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to dissolve the National Rifle Association (NRA), the largest and most influential pro-gun organization in the nation. 

Attorney General James charges the organization with illegal conduct because of their diversion of millions of dollars away from the charitable mission of the organization for personal use by senior leadership, awarding contracts to the financial gain of close associates and family, and appearing to dole out lucrative no-show contracts to former employees in order to buy their silence and continued loyalty. The&nbsp;<a href="https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/final_nra_summons_complaint_08.06.20.pdf" target="_blank">suit specifically charges the NRA as a whole, as well as Executive Vice-President Wayne LaPierre, former Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Wilson “Woody” Phillips, former Chief of Staff and the Executive Director of General Operations Joshua Powell, and Corporate Secretary and General Counsel John Frazer with failing to manage the NRA’s funds and failing to follow numerous state and federal laws, contributing to the loss of more than $64 million in just three years for the NRA</a>.

In the complaint, Attorney General James lays out dozens of examples where the four individual defendants failed to fulfill their fiduciary duty to the NRA and used millions upon millions from NRA reserves for personal use, including trips for them and their families to the Bahamas, private jets, expensive meals, and other private travel. In addition to shuttering the NRA’s doors, Attorney General James seeks to recoup millions in lost assets and to stop the four individual defendants from serving on the board of any not-for-profit charitable organization in the state of New York again.

“The NRA’s influence has been so powerful that the organization went unchecked for decades while top executives funneled millions into their own pockets,” said&nbsp;Attorney General James. “The NRA is fraught with fraud and abuse, which is why, today, we seek to dissolve the NRA, because no organization is above the law.”

Since 1871, the NRA has operated as a New York-registered 501(c)(4) not-for-profit, charitable corporation. Under state law not-for-profit, charitable corporations are required to register and file annual financial reports with the Charities Bureau in the Office of the Attorney General (OAG). The assets are required to be used in a way that serves the interests of NRA membership and that advance the organization’s charitable mission. However, as today’s complaint lays out, the NRA is alleged to have fostered a culture of noncompliance and disregard for internal controls that led to the waste and loss of millions in assets and contributed to the NRA reaching its current deteriorated financial state. The NRA’s internal policies were repeatedly not followed and were even blatantly ignored by senior leaders. Furthermore, the NRA board’s audit committee was negligent in its duty to ensure appropriate, competent, and judicious stewardship of assets by NRA leadership. Specifically, the committee failed to assure standard fiscal controls, failed to respond adequately to whistleblowers, affirmatively took steps to conceal the nature and scope of whistleblower concerns from external auditors, and failed to review potential conflicts of interest for employees.

NRA’s Culture of Self-Dealing, Mismanagement, and Negligence

The lawsuit alleges that the four men instituted a culture of self-dealing, mismanagement, and negligent oversight at the NRA that was illegal, oppressive, and fraudulent. They overrode and evaded internal controls to allow themselves, their families, favored board members, employees, and vendors to benefit through reimbursed expenses, related party transactions, excess compensation, side deals, and waste of charitable assets without regard to the NRA’s best interests.

When board members challenged LaPierre and others over their financial governance and leadership of the NRA, LaPierre retaliated and turned the board against those who attempted to challenge the illegal behavior.

The complaint lays out numerous other instances in which LaPierre, Phillips, Powell, Frazer, and other executives and board members at the NRA abused their power and illegally diverted or facilitated the diversion of tens of millions of dollars from the NRA. These funds were in addition to millions of dollars the four individual defendants were already receiving in grossly excessive salaries and bonuses that were not in line with the best practices and prudent standards for evaluating and determining compensation.

Wayne LaPierre – Executive Vice-President

In his nearly three decades as executive vice-president, Wayne LaPierre ran the day-to-day operations of the NRA and exploited the organization for his and his family’s financial benefit, and the benefit of a close circle of NRA staff, board members, and vendors. Of note, LaPierre:

The complaint alleges that as executive vice-president, LaPierre handpicked individuals in senior staff positions at the NRA that have shown themselves to be loyal to LaPierre as an individual, rather than to the organization. Time and time again, LaPierre has shown that loyalty, more than competence and responsibility, is integral to his staffing picks, which led him to personally hire Phillips, Powell, and Frazer — some chosen despite failing to meet the necessary skills or experience for their respective roles and responsibilities.

Wilson “Woody” Phillips – Former Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer

Woody Phillips — the former treasurer and CFO, who was responsible for managing the books and financial operations of the NRA — engaged in practices that violated NRA policy, lied on financial disclosure forms, and set up a deal worth more than $1 million that benefitted his girlfriend. Just before his retirement in 2018, Phillips obtained a contract for himself worth $1.8 million, purportedly for monthly consulting services to the incoming treasurer, even though the current treasurer knew nothing about this contract and has confirmed that “Woody [Phillips] never consulted for me.” Phillips, having served in the capacity as the chief steward of the organization's finances, also oversaw the financial practices that allowed millions of dollars in entertainment and travel expenses incurred by NRA executives to be fraudulently billed to the NRA as disbursements by the NRA’s largest vendor: Ackerman McQueen, an Oklahoma-based advertising and public relations firm. Furthermore, the complaint asserts that Phillips consistently eschewed his fiduciary duties time and time again, as evidenced by his failure to seriously respond to whistleblower complaints about alleged fiscal improprieties and his readiness to unilaterally authorize payments and contracts outside of the NRA adopted purchasing and contracting policies and procedures.

Joshua Powell – Former Chief of Staff and Executive Director of General Operations

Joshua Powell, the chief of staff to LaPierre, was terminated after just 3.5 years for, among other things, misappropriating NRA funds during his tenure. Powell, who is known as a LaPierre loyalist, received sudden and substantial salary increases almost immediately after starting his position. Within a month, his salary was doubled retroactively to the beginning of his tenure with the NRA to $500,000. After less than a year, Powell’s salary increased to $650,000. A little over two years into the job, Powell’s salary more than tripled from the original $250,000 to $800,000, despite numerous complaints of abusive behavior and evidence of illegal conduct and inappropriate spending. Further, Powell abused the NRA’s policy on housing and relocation reimbursements, pocketing in excess of $100,000 more than NRA rules allowed.

Powell’s tenure was marked by nepotism. LaPierre, Phillips, and Powell also signed off on the hiring of fundraising consultant McKenna &amp; Associates outside of the NRA’s contract process and without going through any approval process. The NRA paid the company more than $5 million over the course of five years. For all of 2018, Powell’s wife was hired as a consultant by McKenna &amp; Associates, and her entire $30,000 monthly consulting fee was passed through the NRA. The hiring of Powell’s wife was hidden from the NRA’s general counsel, in an effort to not draw attention to and affirmatively hide the conflict of interest, and her role was not pre-approved by the NRA board, as the organization’s policy requires. Additionally, Powell requested an NRA vendor to add his father to a rotation of paid photographers, resulting in more than $90,000 in compensation for his father, an expense which was completely passed through to the NRA.

John Frazer – Corporate Secretary and General Counsel

John Frazer was chosen by LaPierre to serve as general counsel and also served as corporate secretary at the NRA. Between 2014 and 2018, Frazer repeatedly failed to comply with board governance procedures, make necessary changes, or advise others that governance changes needed to be made; failed to ensure that financial transactions were being addressed by NRA officers and directors in accordance with law; failed to enforce compliance with the NRA’s conflict of interest policy; and failed to ensure that the NRA was in compliance with laws and policies governing whistleblowers. Additionally, Frazer repeatedly certified false or misleading annual statements.

Ackerman McQueen – NRA’s Public Relations and Advertising Firm

A practice decades-old between LaPierre and Ackerman McQueen’s co-founder — that would continue until the two companies severed ties in 2019 — ensured that Ackerman McQueen would pay for a variety of non-contractual, out-of-pocket expenses for LaPierre and other NRA executives and pass those expenses through to the NRA. The NRA leadership regularly used this pass-through arrangement — where expenses would be paid for by the NRA without written approvals, receipts, or supporting business purpose documentation — to conceal private travel and other costs that were largely personal in nature. Ackerman McQueen would aggregate the expenses into a lump sum amount and provide no details on the nature or purpose of the expenses when billing the NRA for them. The invoices only typically included a one-line description that read “out-of-pocket expenses” and included an invoice total amount. The expenses billed to the NRA for out-of-pocket expenses did not comply with IRS requirements, and, as a result, all such expenses should have been included by the NRA in taxable personal income for LaPierre and other recipients.

Ackerman McQueen was paid more than $70 million in just 2017 and 2018 for “public relations and advertising” services and for “out-of-pocket expenditures” that really went to entertainment and travel incurred by NRA executives and associates without scrutiny from within the organization, including millions for private planes, luxury hotels, memberships to private clubs, special events, fancy meals, and even personal hair and makeup services for LaPierre’s wife.

Under New York law, the NRA’s audit committee is responsible for overseeing the accounting and financial reporting processes of the organization and the audit of its financial statements, but the culture of noncompliance and disregard for the internal controls is evident within the audit committee. The committee failed to serve as an independent check on LaPierre, his senior staff, and the NRA as a whole, and basically served as a rubber stamp for the organization’s illicit behavior, when it did review finances.

For example, the audit committee is charged with reviewing any contract that has the appearance of a conflict of interest, such as a contracts with insiders referred to as related-party transactions, and must not only perform certain considerations, but also document its deliberations. The committee routinely approved related-party transactions after LaPierre or senior staff entered into such agreements. In fact, in 2018, the audit committee approved seven related-party transactions after the fact, including a contract between the NRA’s then incoming president and Ackerman McQueen. At the time this contract was executed, the terms were known to LaPierre and Phillips, but the audit committee had no knowledge of it. Then, again in 2019 and 2020, the audit committee purportedly approved, retroactively, many other existing NRA contracts, some of which dated back 15 years.

The audit committee’s chair testified during a deposition with the OAG that he had no knowledge of New York law governing audit committees, whistleblowers, or conflicts of interest, and that he could not recall the last time he had seen the audit committee charter that specifically states the audit committee “overs[ees] the integrity of financial information” at the NRA. In fact, the committee chair testified that, in his view and contrary to the charter, the audit committee had no role in oversight of internal controls and that “there is no internal auditing” within the NRA and there hadn’t been one in the whole 19 years he served on the NRA board.

Unsurprisingly, during numerous occasions, the audit committee failed to respond adequately to whistleblowers, failed to appropriately review and approve related-party transactions and conflicts of interest, and failed to adequately oversee external auditors.

Extensive Violations of Fundamental Not-for-Profit Law

Attorney General James alleges in her complaint that the NRA violated multiple laws, including the laws governing the NRA’s charitable status, false reporting on annual filings with the IRS and with the OAG’s Charities Bureau, improper expense documentation, improper wage reporting, improper income tax withholding, failure to make required excise tax reporting and payments, payments in excess of reasonable compensation to disqualified persons, and waste of NRA assets; in direct violation of New York’s Estates, Powers &amp; Trusts Laws; New York’s Not-for-Profit Corporation Law; the New York Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act; and New York’s Executive Law. The illegal nature of the four individual defendants’ action also violated multiple rules of the NRA’s bylaws, the NRA’s employee handbook, and the NRA’s policy manual.

The failure of the NRA to comply with multiple fiduciary responsibilities and state and federal laws resulted in the NRA seeing substantial losses on its balance sheet: going from a surplus of $27,802,714 in 2015 to a net deficit of $36,276,779 in 2018 — contributing to a total loss of more than $64 million in just three years.

As a result of all the allegations mentioned above, Attorney General James seeks to dissolve the NRA; asks the court to order LaPierre, Phillips, Powell, and Frazer to make full restitution for funds they unlawfully profited and salaries earned while employees; pay penalties; recover illegal and unauthorized payments to the four individuals; remove LaPierre and Frazer from the NRA’s leadership (Phillips and Powell are no longer employed by the NRA); and ensure none of the four individual defendants can ever again serve on the board of a charity in New York.

Attorney General James began her inquiry into the NRA in February 2019.

The matter was led by Bureau Chief James Sheehan and Bureau Co-Chief of the Enforcement Section Emily Stern, with a team of attorneys, legal assistants, and accountants, including Assistant Attorney General and Special Counsel of the Litigation Bureau Monica Connell; Assistant Attorneys General William Wang, Sharon Sash, Jonathan Conley, Stephen Thompson, and Erica James — all of the Charities Bureau; with additional assistance from Chief Accountant Judith Welsh-Liebross, Associate Accountant Darren Beauchamp, and Associate Accountant Charles Aganu; in addition to numerous other individuals at the OAG.&nbsp;The Charities Bureau is part of the Division for Social Justice, which is supervised by Chief Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux and First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596729533353.png" alt="New York Attorney General Letitia James during Thursday's announcement&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>New York Attorney General Letitia James during Thursday's announcement&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to dissolve the National Rifle Association (NRA), the largest and most influential pro-gun organization in the nation. Attorney General James charges the organization with illegal conduct because of their diversion of millions of dollars away from the charitable mission of the organization for personal use by senior leadership, awarding contracts to the financial gain of close associates and family, and appearing to dole out lucrative no-show contracts to former employees in order to buy their silence and continued loyalty. The&nbsp;<a href="https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/final_nra_summons_complaint_08.06.20.pdf" target="_blank">suit specifically charges the NRA as a whole, as well as Executive Vice-President Wayne LaPierre, former Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Wilson “Woody” Phillips, former Chief of Staff and the Executive Director of General Operations Joshua Powell, and Corporate Secretary and General Counsel John Frazer with failing to manage the NRA’s funds and failing to follow numerous state and federal laws, contributing to the loss of more than $64 million in just three years for the NRA</a>.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a>: I filed a lawsuit to dissolve the National Rifle Association for years of self-dealing and illegal conduct. The <a href="https://twitter.com/NRA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NRA</a> is fraught with fraud and abuse. No organization is above the law.&mdash; NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) <a href="https://twitter.com/NewYorkStateAG/status/1291397976200548353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>In the complaint, Attorney General James lays out dozens of examples where the four individual defendants failed to fulfill their fiduciary duty to the NRA and used millions upon millions from NRA reserves for personal use, including trips for them and their families to the Bahamas, private jets, expensive meals, and other private travel. In addition to shuttering the NRA’s doors, Attorney General James seeks to recoup millions in lost assets and to stop the four individual defendants from serving on the board of any not-for-profit charitable organization in the state of New York again.“The NRA’s influence has been so powerful that the organization went unchecked for decades while top executives funneled millions into their own pockets,” said&nbsp;Attorney General James. “The NRA is fraught with fraud and abuse, which is why, today, we seek to dissolve the NRA, because no organization is above the law.”Since 1871, the NRA has operated as a New York-registered 501(c)(4) not-for-profit, charitable corporation. Under state law not-for-profit, charitable corporations are required to register and file annual financial reports with the Charities Bureau in the Office of the Attorney General (OAG). The assets are required to be used in a way that serves the interests of NRA membership and that advance the organization’s charitable mission. However, as today’s complaint lays out, the NRA is alleged to have fostered a culture of noncompliance and disregard for internal controls that led to the waste and loss of millions in assets and contributed to the NRA reaching its current deteriorated financial state. The NRA’s internal policies were repeatedly not followed and were even blatantly ignored by senior leaders. Furthermore, the NRA board’s audit committee was negligent in its duty to ensure appropriate, competent, and judicious stewardship of assets by NRA leadership. Specifically, the committee failed to assure standard fiscal controls, failed to respond adequately to whistleblowers, affirmatively took steps to conceal the nature and scope of whistleblower concerns from external auditors, and failed to review potential conflicts of interest for employees.NRA’s Culture of Self-Dealing, Mismanagement, and NegligenceThe lawsuit alleges that the four men instituted a culture of self-dealing, mismanagement, and negligent oversight at the NRA that was illegal, oppressive, and fraudulent. They overrode and evaded internal controls to allow themselves, their families, favored board members, employees, and vendors to benefit through reimbursed expenses, related party transactions, excess compensation, side deals, and waste of charitable assets without regard to the NRA’s best interests.When board members challenged LaPierre and others over their financial governance and leadership of the NRA, LaPierre retaliated and turned the board against those who attempted to challenge the illegal behavior.The complaint lays out numerous other instances in which LaPierre, Phillips, Powell, Frazer, and other executives and board members at the NRA abused their power and illegally diverted or facilitated the diversion of tens of millions of dollars from the NRA. These funds were in addition to millions of dollars the four individual defendants were already receiving in grossly excessive salaries and bonuses that were not in line with the best practices and prudent standards for evaluating and determining compensation.Wayne LaPierre – Executive Vice-PresidentIn his nearly three decades as executive vice-president, Wayne LaPierre ran the day-to-day operations of the NRA and exploited the organization for his and his family’s financial benefit, and the benefit of a close circle of NRA staff, board members, and vendors. Of note, LaPierre:<ul>
 <li>Spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of the NRA’s charitable assets for private plane trips for himself and his family, including extended family when he was not present.</li><li>Visited the Bahamas by private air charter at least eight times in an approximate three-year period with his family, at a cost of more than $500,000 to the NRA. On many of those trips, LaPierre and his family were gifted the use of a 107-foot yacht owned by an NRA vendor.</li><li>Traveled to Africa with his wife for all-expense paid safaris, gifted by an NRA vendor.</li><li>Spent millions on unwarranted travel consultants for decades, including for the booking of luxury black car services — spending more than $3.6 million in the last two years alone.</li><li>Secured a post-employment contract for himself with the NRA, without board approval, currently valued at more than $17 million.</li><li>Allotted several millions of dollars annually in NRA funds for private security costs for himself and his family without sufficient oversight on their use.</li><li>Received more than $1.2 million in expense reimbursements in just a four-year period for expenditures that included gifts for favored friends and vendors; travel expenses for himself and his family; and membership fees at golf clubs, hotels, and other member clubs.</li><li>Secured lucrative consulting contracts for ex-employees and board members worth millions.</li>
 </ul>The complaint alleges that as executive vice-president, LaPierre handpicked individuals in senior staff positions at the NRA that have shown themselves to be loyal to LaPierre as an individual, rather than to the organization. Time and time again, LaPierre has shown that loyalty, more than competence and responsibility, is integral to his staffing picks, which led him to personally hire Phillips, Powell, and Frazer — some chosen despite failing to meet the necessary skills or experience for their respective roles and responsibilities.Wilson “Woody” Phillips – Former Treasurer and Chief Financial OfficerWoody Phillips — the former treasurer and CFO, who was responsible for managing the books and financial operations of the NRA — engaged in practices that violated NRA policy, lied on financial disclosure forms, and set up a deal worth more than $1 million that benefitted his girlfriend. Just before his retirement in 2018, Phillips obtained a contract for himself worth $1.8 million, purportedly for monthly consulting services to the incoming treasurer, even though the current treasurer knew nothing about this contract and has confirmed that “Woody [Phillips] never consulted for me.” Phillips, having served in the capacity as the chief steward of the organization's finances, also oversaw the financial practices that allowed millions of dollars in entertainment and travel expenses incurred by NRA executives to be fraudulently billed to the NRA as disbursements by the NRA’s largest vendor: Ackerman McQueen, an Oklahoma-based advertising and public relations firm. Furthermore, the complaint asserts that Phillips consistently eschewed his fiduciary duties time and time again, as evidenced by his failure to seriously respond to whistleblower complaints about alleged fiscal improprieties and his readiness to unilaterally authorize payments and contracts outside of the NRA adopted purchasing and contracting policies and procedures.Joshua Powell – Former Chief of Staff and Executive Director of General OperationsJoshua Powell, the chief of staff to LaPierre, was terminated after just 3.5 years for, among other things, misappropriating NRA funds during his tenure. Powell, who is known as a LaPierre loyalist, received sudden and substantial salary increases almost immediately after starting his position. Within a month, his salary was doubled retroactively to the beginning of his tenure with the NRA to $500,000. After less than a year, Powell’s salary increased to $650,000. A little over two years into the job, Powell’s salary more than tripled from the original $250,000 to $800,000, despite numerous complaints of abusive behavior and evidence of illegal conduct and inappropriate spending. Further, Powell abused the NRA’s policy on housing and relocation reimbursements, pocketing in excess of $100,000 more than NRA rules allowed.Powell’s tenure was marked by nepotism. LaPierre, Phillips, and Powell also signed off on the hiring of fundraising consultant McKenna &amp; Associates outside of the NRA’s contract process and without going through any approval process. The NRA paid the company more than $5 million over the course of five years. For all of 2018, Powell’s wife was hired as a consultant by McKenna &amp; Associates, and her entire $30,000 monthly consulting fee was passed through the NRA. The hiring of Powell’s wife was hidden from the NRA’s general counsel, in an effort to not draw attention to and affirmatively hide the conflict of interest, and her role was not pre-approved by the NRA board, as the organization’s policy requires. Additionally, Powell requested an NRA vendor to add his father to a rotation of paid photographers, resulting in more than $90,000 in compensation for his father, an expense which was completely passed through to the NRA.John Frazer – Corporate Secretary and General CounselJohn Frazer was chosen by LaPierre to serve as general counsel and also served as corporate secretary at the NRA. Between 2014 and 2018, Frazer repeatedly failed to comply with board governance procedures, make necessary changes, or advise others that governance changes needed to be made; failed to ensure that financial transactions were being addressed by NRA officers and directors in accordance with law; failed to enforce compliance with the NRA’s conflict of interest policy; and failed to ensure that the NRA was in compliance with laws and policies governing whistleblowers. Additionally, Frazer repeatedly certified false or misleading annual statements.Ackerman McQueen – NRA’s Public Relations and Advertising FirmA practice decades-old between LaPierre and Ackerman McQueen’s co-founder — that would continue until the two companies severed ties in 2019 — ensured that Ackerman McQueen would pay for a variety of non-contractual, out-of-pocket expenses for LaPierre and other NRA executives and pass those expenses through to the NRA. The NRA leadership regularly used this pass-through arrangement — where expenses would be paid for by the NRA without written approvals, receipts, or supporting business purpose documentation — to conceal private travel and other costs that were largely personal in nature. Ackerman McQueen would aggregate the expenses into a lump sum amount and provide no details on the nature or purpose of the expenses when billing the NRA for them. The invoices only typically included a one-line description that read “out-of-pocket expenses” and included an invoice total amount. The expenses billed to the NRA for out-of-pocket expenses did not comply with IRS requirements, and, as a result, all such expenses should have been included by the NRA in taxable personal income for LaPierre and other recipients.Ackerman McQueen was paid more than $70 million in just 2017 and 2018 for “public relations and advertising” services and for “out-of-pocket expenditures” that really went to entertainment and travel incurred by NRA executives and associates without scrutiny from within the organization, including millions for private planes, luxury hotels, memberships to private clubs, special events, fancy meals, and even personal hair and makeup services for LaPierre’s wife.NRA Audit Committee’s Failure to AuditUnder New York law, the NRA’s audit committee is responsible for overseeing the accounting and financial reporting processes of the organization and the audit of its financial statements, but the culture of noncompliance and disregard for the internal controls is evident within the audit committee. The committee failed to serve as an independent check on LaPierre, his senior staff, and the NRA as a whole, and basically served as a rubber stamp for the organization’s illicit behavior, when it did review finances.For example, the audit committee is charged with reviewing any contract that has the appearance of a conflict of interest, such as a contracts with insiders referred to as related-party transactions, and must not only perform certain considerations, but also document its deliberations. The committee routinely approved related-party transactions after LaPierre or senior staff entered into such agreements. In fact, in 2018, the audit committee approved seven related-party transactions after the fact, including a contract between the NRA’s then incoming president and Ackerman McQueen. At the time this contract was executed, the terms were known to LaPierre and Phillips, but the audit committee had no knowledge of it. Then, again in 2019 and 2020, the audit committee purportedly approved, retroactively, many other existing NRA contracts, some of which dated back 15 years.The audit committee’s chair testified during a deposition with the OAG that he had no knowledge of New York law governing audit committees, whistleblowers, or conflicts of interest, and that he could not recall the last time he had seen the audit committee charter that specifically states the audit committee “overs[ees] the integrity of financial information” at the NRA. In fact, the committee chair testified that, in his view and contrary to the charter, the audit committee had no role in oversight of internal controls and that “there is no internal auditing” within the NRA and there hadn’t been one in the whole 19 years he served on the NRA board.Unsurprisingly, during numerous occasions, the audit committee failed to respond adequately to whistleblowers, failed to appropriately review and approve related-party transactions and conflicts of interest, and failed to adequately oversee external auditors.Extensive Violations of Fundamental Not-for-Profit LawAttorney General James alleges in her complaint that the NRA violated multiple laws, including the laws governing the NRA’s charitable status, false reporting on annual filings with the IRS and with the OAG’s Charities Bureau, improper expense documentation, improper wage reporting, improper income tax withholding, failure to make required excise tax reporting and payments, payments in excess of reasonable compensation to disqualified persons, and waste of NRA assets; in direct violation of New York’s Estates, Powers &amp; Trusts Laws; New York’s Not-for-Profit Corporation Law; the New York Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act; and New York’s Executive Law. The illegal nature of the four individual defendants’ action also violated multiple rules of the NRA’s bylaws, the NRA’s employee handbook, and the NRA’s policy manual.The failure of the NRA to comply with multiple fiduciary responsibilities and state and federal laws resulted in the NRA seeing substantial losses on its balance sheet: going from a surplus of $27,802,714 in 2015 to a net deficit of $36,276,779 in 2018 — contributing to a total loss of more than $64 million in just three years.Proposed ResolutionAs a result of all the allegations mentioned above, Attorney General James seeks to dissolve the NRA; asks the court to order LaPierre, Phillips, Powell, and Frazer to make full restitution for funds they unlawfully profited and salaries earned while employees; pay penalties; recover illegal and unauthorized payments to the four individuals; remove LaPierre and Frazer from the NRA’s leadership (Phillips and Powell are no longer employed by the NRA); and ensure none of the four individual defendants can ever again serve on the board of a charity in New York.Attorney General James began her inquiry into the NRA in February 2019.The matter was led by Bureau Chief James Sheehan and Bureau Co-Chief of the Enforcement Section Emily Stern, with a team of attorneys, legal assistants, and accountants, including Assistant Attorney General and Special Counsel of the Litigation Bureau Monica Connell; Assistant Attorneys General William Wang, Sharon Sash, Jonathan Conley, Stephen Thompson, and Erica James — all of the Charities Bureau; with additional assistance from Chief Accountant Judith Welsh-Liebross, Associate Accountant Darren Beauchamp, and Associate Accountant Charles Aganu; in addition to numerous other individuals at the OAG.&nbsp;The Charities Bureau is part of the Division for Social Justice, which is supervised by Chief Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux and First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.

NY attorney general files lawsuit to dissolve NRA

Today is Thursday, Aug. 6, the 219th day of 2020. There are 147 days left in the year. 

Today's Highlight in History: On August 6, 1945, during World War II, the U.S. B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb code-named "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, Japan, resulting in an estimated 140,000 deaths. (Three days later, the United States exploded a nuclear device over Nagasaki; five days after that, Imperial Japan surrendered.)

In 1809, one of the leading literary figures of the Victorian era, poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England. 

In 1911, actor-comedian Lucille Ball was born in Jamestown, New York. 

In 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel, arriving in Kingsdown, England, from France in 14 1/2 hours. 

In 1930, New York State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Force Crater went missing after leaving a Manhattan restaurant; his disappearance remains a mystery.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. 

In 1973, entertainer Stevie Wonder was seriously injured in a car accident in North Carolina.

In 1978, Pope Paul VI died at Castel Gandolfo at age 80. 

In 1986, William J. Schroeder died at Humana Hospital-Audubon in Louisville, Kentucky, after living 620 days with the Jarvik 7 artificial heart. 

In 1991, the World Wide Web made its public debut as a means of accessing webpages over the Internet. TV newsman Harry Reasoner died in Norwalk, Connecticut, at age 68. 

In 1993, Louis Freeh won Senate confirmation to be FBI director.

In 2009, Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed as the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice by a Senate vote of 68-31. John Hughes, 59, Hollywood's youth movie director of the 1980s and '90s, died in New York City.

In 2013, U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan went on trial at Fort Hood, Texas, charged with killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a 2009 attack. (Hasan, who admitted carrying out the attack, was convicted and sentenced to death.) 

Ten years ago: In a stunning announcement, Hewlett-Packard Co. said it had ousted CEO Mark Hurd after an investigation of a sexual harassment complaint found that he had falsified expense reports and other documents to conceal a relationship with a contractor.

Five years ago: The first Republican presidential debate aired on Fox News Channel; when the 10 candidates were asked whether any of them would not pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee, only Donald Trump raised his hand, saying, "I will not make the pledge at this time," angering Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who accused Trump of "hedging his bets." Jon Stewart bade an emotional goodbye after 16 years as host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show." "Hamilton," the hip-hop flavored biography about Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first treasury secretary, opened on Broadway.

One year ago: Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, prompted to act by the weekend shooting in Dayton, proposed measures to address mass shootings, including required background checks for nearly all gun sales in Ohio and allowing courts to restrict firearms access for people perceived as threats. In a strong rebuke to President Donald Trump, the four living former leaders of the Federal Reserve said that the head of the nation's central bank should be able to make decisions on interest rates without political pressure or the threat of being removed.

Today's Birthdays: Children's performer Ella Jenkins is 96. Actor-director Peter Bonerz is 82. Actor Louise Sorel is 80. Actor Michael Anderson Jr. is 77. Actor Ray Buktenica is 77. Actor Dorian Harewood is 70. Actor Catherine Hicks is 69. Rock singer Pat MacDonald (Timbuk 3) is 68. Country musician Mark DuFresne is 67. Actor Stepfanie Kramer is 64. Actor Faith Prince is 63. Rhythm-and-blues singer Randy DeBarge is 62. Actor Leland Orser is 60. Actor Michelle Yeoh is 58. Country singers Patsy and Peggy Lynn are 56. Basketball Hall of Famer David Robinson is 55. Actor Jeremy Ratchford is 55. Actor Benito Martinez is 52. Country singer Lisa Stewart is 52. Movie writer-director M. Night Shyamalan is 50. Actor Merrin Dungey is 49. Singer Geri Halliwell Horner is 48. Actor Jason O'Mara is 48. Singer-actor David Campbell is 47. Actor Vera Farmiga is 47. Actor Ever Carradine is 46. Actor Soleil Moon Frye is 44. Actor Melissa George is 44. Rock singer Travis McCoy is 39. Actor Leslie Odom Jr. is 39. Actor Romola Garai is 38. Rock musician Eric Roberts is 36.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573488868914.jpeg" alt="Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a>" />
 <figcaption>Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a></figcaption>
 </figure>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSToday is Thursday, Aug. 6, the 219th day of 2020. There are 147 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On August 6, 1945, during World War II, the U.S. B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb code-named "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, Japan, resulting in an estimated 140,000 deaths. (Three days later, the United States exploded a nuclear device over Nagasaki; five days after that, Imperial Japan surrendered.) On this date: In 1809, one of the leading literary figures of the Victorian era, poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England. In 1911, actor-comedian Lucille Ball was born in Jamestown, New York. In 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel, arriving in Kingsdown, England, from France in 14 1/2 hours. In 1930, New York State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Force Crater went missing after leaving a Manhattan restaurant; his disappearance remains a mystery.In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. In 1973, entertainer Stevie Wonder was seriously injured in a car accident in North Carolina.In 1978, Pope Paul VI died at Castel Gandolfo at age 80. In 1986, William J. Schroeder died at Humana Hospital-Audubon in Louisville, Kentucky, after living 620 days with the Jarvik 7 artificial heart. In 1991, the World Wide Web made its public debut as a means of accessing webpages over the Internet. TV newsman Harry Reasoner died in Norwalk, Connecticut, at age 68. In 1993, Louis Freeh won Senate confirmation to be FBI director.In 2009, Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed as the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice by a Senate vote of 68-31. John Hughes, 59, Hollywood's youth movie director of the 1980s and '90s, died in New York City.In 2013, U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan went on trial at Fort Hood, Texas, charged with killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a 2009 attack. (Hasan, who admitted carrying out the attack, was convicted and sentenced to death.) Ten years ago: In a stunning announcement, Hewlett-Packard Co. said it had ousted CEO Mark Hurd after an investigation of a sexual harassment complaint found that he had falsified expense reports and other documents to conceal a relationship with a contractor.Five years ago: The first Republican presidential debate aired on Fox News Channel; when the 10 candidates were asked whether any of them would not pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee, only Donald Trump raised his hand, saying, "I will not make the pledge at this time," angering Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who accused Trump of "hedging his bets." Jon Stewart bade an emotional goodbye after 16 years as host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show." "Hamilton," the hip-hop flavored biography about Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first treasury secretary, opened on Broadway.One year ago: Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, prompted to act by the weekend shooting in Dayton, proposed measures to address mass shootings, including required background checks for nearly all gun sales in Ohio and allowing courts to restrict firearms access for people perceived as threats. In a strong rebuke to President Donald Trump, the four living former leaders of the Federal Reserve said that the head of the nation's central bank should be able to make decisions on interest rates without political pressure or the threat of being removed.Today's Birthdays: Children's performer Ella Jenkins is 96. Actor-director Peter Bonerz is 82. Actor Louise Sorel is 80. Actor Michael Anderson Jr. is 77. Actor Ray Buktenica is 77. Actor Dorian Harewood is 70. Actor Catherine Hicks is 69. Rock singer Pat MacDonald (Timbuk 3) is 68. Country musician Mark DuFresne is 67. Actor Stepfanie Kramer is 64. Actor Faith Prince is 63. Rhythm-and-blues singer Randy DeBarge is 62. Actor Leland Orser is 60. Actor Michelle Yeoh is 58. Country singers Patsy and Peggy Lynn are 56. Basketball Hall of Famer David Robinson is 55. Actor Jeremy Ratchford is 55. Actor Benito Martinez is 52. Country singer Lisa Stewart is 52. Movie writer-director M. Night Shyamalan is 50. Actor Merrin Dungey is 49. Singer Geri Halliwell Horner is 48. Actor Jason O'Mara is 48. Singer-actor David Campbell is 47. Actor Vera Farmiga is 47. Actor Ever Carradine is 46. Actor Soleil Moon Frye is 44. Actor Melissa George is 44. Rock singer Travis McCoy is 39. Actor Leslie Odom Jr. is 39. Actor Romola Garai is 38. Rock musician Eric Roberts is 36.

Today in History -- Aug. 6

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating two men on felony charges after a traffic stop

Just after 6p.m. Tuesday,&nbsp; a deputy conducted a traffic stop in the 5400 block of SW Topeka Boulevard, according to a deputy Abigail Christian.

 During the traffic stop, a K9 unit was deployed and located a loaded firearm inside the vehicle. Deputies determined the firearm belonged to Jeremy W. Taylor, 31, of Burlingame. He is a multi-convicted felon. 

Taylor was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of aggravated felon in possession of a firearm, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The driver of the vehicle, Lance E. Fox, 42, of Topeka, was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on&nbsp; requested charges of driving while license revoked, insurance violation and vehicle registration violations.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596710075148.png" alt="Jeremy Taylor&nbsp; has previous convictions that include theft, forgery, flee or attempt to elude law enforcement and an aggravated weapons violation-photo Shawnee County" />
 <figcaption>Jeremy Taylor&nbsp; has previous convictions that include theft, forgery, flee or attempt to elude law enforcement and an aggravated weapons violation-photo Shawnee County</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating two men on felony charges after a traffic stopJust after 6p.m. Tuesday,&nbsp; a deputy conducted a traffic stop in the 5400 block of SW Topeka Boulevard, according to a deputy Abigail Christian. During the traffic stop, a K9 unit was deployed and located a loaded firearm inside the vehicle. Deputies determined the firearm belonged to Jeremy W. Taylor, 31, of Burlingame. He is a multi-convicted felon. Taylor was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of aggravated felon in possession of a firearm, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596710176691.png" alt="Fox-photo Shawnee County" />
 <figcaption>Fox-photo Shawnee County</figcaption>
 </figure>The driver of the vehicle, Lance E. Fox, 42, of Topeka, was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on&nbsp; requested charges of driving while license revoked, insurance violation and vehicle registration violations.

K9 unit helps deputies catch Kan. felon with gun, drugs

Today is Wednesday, Aug. 5, the 218th day of 2020. There are 148 days left in the year. 

On August 5, 1974, the White House released transcripts of subpoenaed tape recordings showing that President Richard Nixon and his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, had discussed a plan in June 1972 to use the CIA to thwart the FBI's Watergate investigation; revelation of the tape sparked Nixon's resignation. 

In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Adm. David G. Farragut led his fleet to victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, Alabama. 

In 1914, what's believed to be the first electric traffic light system was installed in Cleveland, Ohio, at the intersection of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue.

In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the 200-meter dash at the Berlin Olympics, collecting the third of his four gold medals. 

In 1953, Operation Big Switch began as remaining prisoners taken during the Korean War were exchanged at Panmunjom. 

In 1961, the amusement park Six Flags Over Texas had its official grand opening day in Arlington. 

In 1962, movie star Marilyn Monroe, 36, was found dead in her Los Angeles home; her death was ruled a probable suicide from "acute barbiturate poisoning." South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was arrested on charges of leaving the country without a passport and inciting workers to strike; it was the beginning of 27 years of imprisonment. 

In 1964, U.S. Navy pilot Everett Alvarez Jr. became the first American flier to be shot down and captured by North Vietnam; he was held prisoner until February 1973. 

In 1966, the Beatles' "Revolver" album was released in the United Kingdom on the Parlophone label; it was released in the United States three days later by Capitol Records. (Songs included "Eleanor Rigby" and "Yellow Submarine," which were also issued as a double A-side single on Aug. 5 and 8.)

In 1981, the federal government began firing air traffic controllers who had gone out on strike. 

In 1984, actor Richard Burton died in Geneva, Switzerland, at age 58.

In 1991, Democratic congressional leaders formally launched an investigation into whether the 1980 Reagan-Bush campaign had secretly conspired with Iran to delay release of American hostages until after the presidential election, thereby preventing an "October surprise" that supposedly would have benefited President Jimmy Carter. (A task force later concluded there was "no credible evidence" of such a deal.) 

In 2002, the coral-encrusted gun turret of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor was raised from the floor of the Atlantic, nearly 140 years after the historic warship sank during a storm. 

Ten years ago: The Senate confirmed Elena Kagan, 63-37, as the Supreme Court's 112th justice and the fourth woman in its history. BP finished pumping cement into the blown Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. Thirty-three workers were trapped in a copper mine in northern Chile after a tunnel caved in (all were rescued after being entombed for 69 days). Ten members of a Christian medical team from the International Assistance Mission were gunned down in Afghanistan by unknown attackers.

Five years ago: In a speech at American University in Washington, President Barack Obama assailed critics of his Iran nuclear deal as "selling a fantasy" to the American people, warning Congress that blocking the accord would damage the nation's credibility and increase the likelihood of more war in the Middle East. Actor Jennifer Aniston secretly married actor-director Justin Theroux at their home in Bel Air, California.

One year ago: In the wake of deadly shootings in Texas and Ohio, President Donald Trump called for bipartisan solutions to gun violence and said he wanted legislation providing "strong background checks" for gun users. The online message board 8chan was effectively knocked offline after two companies cut off technical services; the gunman responsible for a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas had been linked to the site. The Trump administration froze all Venezuelan government assets in a dramatic escalation of tensions with Nicolás Maduro. Cesar Sayoc, a Florida amateur body builder who had sent pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and CNN, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a judge who concluded that the bombs were not designed to explode. The U.S. Treasury Department labeled China a currency manipulator after China pushed down the value of its yuan in an escalating trade conflict with the United States. Toni Morrison, the first Black woman to receive the Nobel literature prize, died at 88 in New York; her novels included "Beloved," and "The Bluest Eye."

Today's Birthdays: College Football Hall of Famer and former NFL player Roman Gabriel is 80. Country songwriter Bobby Braddock is 80. Actor Loni Anderson is 75. Actor Erika Slezak is 74. Rock singer Rick Derringer is 73. Actor Holly Palance is 70. Pop singer Samantha Sang is 69. Rock musician Eddie Ojeda (Twisted Sister) is 65. Actor-singer Maureen McCormick is 64. Rock musician Pat Smear is 61. Author David Baldacci is 60. Actor Tawney Kitaen is 59. Actor Janet McTeer is 59. Country musician Mark O'Connor is 59. Basketball Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing is 58. Actor Mark Strong is 57. Director-screenwriter James Gunn is 54. Actor Jonathan Silverman is 54. Country singer Terri Clark is 52. Actor Stephanie Szostak is 49. Retired MLB All-Star John Olerud is 52. Rock musician Eicca Toppinen (Apocalyptica) is 45. Actor Jesse Williams is 40. Actor Brendon Ryan Barrett is 34. Actor Meegan Warner (TV: "TURN: Washington's Spies") is 29. Actor/singer Olivia Holt is 23. Actor Albert Tsai is 16. Actor Devin Trey Campbell is 12.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573488868914.jpeg" alt="Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a>" />
 <figcaption>Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a></figcaption>
 </figure>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSToday is Wednesday, Aug. 5, the 218th day of 2020. There are 148 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On August 5, 1974, the White House released transcripts of subpoenaed tape recordings showing that President Richard Nixon and his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, had discussed a plan in June 1972 to use the CIA to thwart the FBI's Watergate investigation; revelation of the tape sparked Nixon's resignation. On this date: In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Adm. David G. Farragut led his fleet to victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, Alabama. In 1914, what's believed to be the first electric traffic light system was installed in Cleveland, Ohio, at the intersection of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue.In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the 200-meter dash at the Berlin Olympics, collecting the third of his four gold medals. In 1953, Operation Big Switch began as remaining prisoners taken during the Korean War were exchanged at Panmunjom. In 1961, the amusement park Six Flags Over Texas had its official grand opening day in Arlington. In 1962, movie star Marilyn Monroe, 36, was found dead in her Los Angeles home; her death was ruled a probable suicide from "acute barbiturate poisoning." South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was arrested on charges of leaving the country without a passport and inciting workers to strike; it was the beginning of 27 years of imprisonment. In 1964, U.S. Navy pilot Everett Alvarez Jr. became the first American flier to be shot down and captured by North Vietnam; he was held prisoner until February 1973. In 1966, the Beatles' "Revolver" album was released in the United Kingdom on the Parlophone label; it was released in the United States three days later by Capitol Records. (Songs included "Eleanor Rigby" and "Yellow Submarine," which were also issued as a double A-side single on Aug. 5 and 8.)In 1981, the federal government began firing air traffic controllers who had gone out on strike. In 1984, actor Richard Burton died in Geneva, Switzerland, at age 58.In 1991, Democratic congressional leaders formally launched an investigation into whether the 1980 Reagan-Bush campaign had secretly conspired with Iran to delay release of American hostages until after the presidential election, thereby preventing an "October surprise" that supposedly would have benefited President Jimmy Carter. (A task force later concluded there was "no credible evidence" of such a deal.) In 2002, the coral-encrusted gun turret of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor was raised from the floor of the Atlantic, nearly 140 years after the historic warship sank during a storm. Ten years ago: The Senate confirmed Elena Kagan, 63-37, as the Supreme Court's 112th justice and the fourth woman in its history. BP finished pumping cement into the blown Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. Thirty-three workers were trapped in a copper mine in northern Chile after a tunnel caved in (all were rescued after being entombed for 69 days). Ten members of a Christian medical team from the International Assistance Mission were gunned down in Afghanistan by unknown attackers.Five years ago: In a speech at American University in Washington, President Barack Obama assailed critics of his Iran nuclear deal as "selling a fantasy" to the American people, warning Congress that blocking the accord would damage the nation's credibility and increase the likelihood of more war in the Middle East. Actor Jennifer Aniston secretly married actor-director Justin Theroux at their home in Bel Air, California.One year ago: In the wake of deadly shootings in Texas and Ohio, President Donald Trump called for bipartisan solutions to gun violence and said he wanted legislation providing "strong background checks" for gun users. The online message board 8chan was effectively knocked offline after two companies cut off technical services; the gunman responsible for a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas had been linked to the site. The Trump administration froze all Venezuelan government assets in a dramatic escalation of tensions with Nicolás Maduro. Cesar Sayoc, a Florida amateur body builder who had sent pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and CNN, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a judge who concluded that the bombs were not designed to explode. The U.S. Treasury Department labeled China a currency manipulator after China pushed down the value of its yuan in an escalating trade conflict with the United States. Toni Morrison, the first Black woman to receive the Nobel literature prize, died at 88 in New York; her novels included "Beloved," and "The Bluest Eye."Today's Birthdays: College Football Hall of Famer and former NFL player Roman Gabriel is 80. Country songwriter Bobby Braddock is 80. Actor Loni Anderson is 75. Actor Erika Slezak is 74. Rock singer Rick Derringer is 73. Actor Holly Palance is 70. Pop singer Samantha Sang is 69. Rock musician Eddie Ojeda (Twisted Sister) is 65. Actor-singer Maureen McCormick is 64. Rock musician Pat Smear is 61. Author David Baldacci is 60. Actor Tawney Kitaen is 59. Actor Janet McTeer is 59. Country musician Mark O'Connor is 59. Basketball Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing is 58. Actor Mark Strong is 57. Director-screenwriter James Gunn is 54. Actor Jonathan Silverman is 54. Country singer Terri Clark is 52. Actor Stephanie Szostak is 49. Retired MLB All-Star John Olerud is 52. Rock musician Eicca Toppinen (Apocalyptica) is 45. Actor Jesse Williams is 40. Actor Brendon Ryan Barrett is 34. Actor Meegan Warner (TV: "TURN: Washington's Spies") is 29. Actor/singer Olivia Holt is 23. Actor Albert Tsai is 16. Actor Devin Trey Campbell is 12.

Today in History -- Aug. 5

Today is Tuesday, Aug. 4, the 217th day of 2020. There are 149 days left in the year. 

On August 4, 1944, 15-year-old diarist Anne Frank was arrested with her sister, parents and four others by the Gestapo after hiding for two years inside a building in Amsterdam. (Anne and her sister, Margot, died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.) 

In 1792, English romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was born at Field Place near Horsham, England. 

In 1914, Britain declared war on Germany for invading Belgium; the United States proclaimed its neutrality in the mushrooming world conflict. 

In 1916, the United States reached agreement with Denmark to purchase the Danish Virgin Islands for $25 million.

In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the second of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics as he prevailed in the long jump over German Luz Long, who was the first to congratulate him. 

In 1964, the bodies of missing civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney were found buried in an earthen dam in Mississippi. 

In 1972, Arthur Bremer was convicted and sentenced in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, to 63 years in prison for his attempt on the life of Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace (the sentence was later reduced to 53 years; Bremer was released from prison in 2007). 

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed a measure establishing the Department of Energy. 

In 1987, the Federal Communications Commission voted 4-0 to abolish the Fairness Doctrine, which required radio and television stations to present balanced coverage of controversial issues. 

In 1993, a federal judge sentenced Los Angeles police officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell to 2 1/2 years in prison for violating Rodney King's civil rights. 

In 1996, on the final day of the Atlanta Olympics, Josiah Thugwane became the first Black South African to win a gold medal as he finished first in the marathon.

In 2001, thousands of admirers turned out in London for what would prove to be the last birthday celebration for Britain's Queen Mother Elizabeth, who had turned 101. (The Queen Mother died in March 2002.)

In 2009, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee for entering the country illegally and ordered their release during a surprise visit by former U.S. President Bill Clinton. 

Ten years ago: BP PLC reported the broken well head at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico was plugged up with mud; President Barack Obama said the battle to contain one of the world's worst oil spills was "finally close to coming to an end." Eight days after turning 35, Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th home run, becoming the youngest player to attain the milestone. (A-Rod's two-run, first-inning drive off Toronto's Shaun Marcum put New York ahead, and the Yankees coasted to a 5-1 victory over the Blue Jays.)

Five years ago: President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made dueling appeals to the American Jewish community as they sought to rally support for their opposing positions on the Iranian nuclear deal; Netanyahu made his case against the agreement in a live webcast with more than 10,000 participants, according to the U.S. Jewish groups that organized the event, while Obama held a private meeting at the White House with Jewish leaders.

One year ago: A masked gunman fired on revelers enjoying summer nightlife in a popular entertainment district of Dayton, Ohio, leaving nine people dead and 27 wounded; police said officers shot and killed the shooter within 30 seconds of the start of his rampage. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suffered a fractured shoulder in a fall outside his Louisville, Kentucky home.

Today's Birthdays: Actor-singer Tina Cole is 77. Actor-comedian Richard Belzer is 76. Football Hall of Famer John Riggins is 71. Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is 65. Actor-screenwriter Billy Bob Thornton is 65. Actor Kym Karath (Film: "The Sound of Music") is 62. Hall of Fame track star Mary Decker Slaney is 62. Actor Lauren Tom is 61. Former President Barack Obama is 59. Producer Michael Gelman (TV: "Live with Kelly &amp; Ryan") is 59. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Roger Clemens is 58. Actor Crystal Chappell is 55. Author Dennis Lehane is 55. Rock musician Rob Cieka (Boo Radleys) is 52. Actor Daniel Dae Kim is 52. Actor Michael DeLuise is 51. Former race car driver Jeff Gordon is 49. Rapper-actor Yo-Yo is 49. Country singer Jon Nicholson is 47. Rhythm-and-blues singer-actor Marques Houston is 39. Britain's Duchess of Sussex, the former actor Meghan Markle, is 39. Actor Abigail Spencer is 39. Actor/director Greta Gerwig is 37. Country singer Crystal Bowersox (TV: "American Idol") is 35. Rock singer Tom Parker (The Wanted) is 32. Actors Dylan and Cole Sprouse are 28. Singer Jessica Sanchez (TV: "American Idol") is 25.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573488868914.jpeg" alt="Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a>" />
 <figcaption>Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a></figcaption>
 </figure>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSToday is Tuesday, Aug. 4, the 217th day of 2020. There are 149 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On August 4, 1944, 15-year-old diarist Anne Frank was arrested with her sister, parents and four others by the Gestapo after hiding for two years inside a building in Amsterdam. (Anne and her sister, Margot, died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.) On this date: In 1792, English romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was born at Field Place near Horsham, England. In 1914, Britain declared war on Germany for invading Belgium; the United States proclaimed its neutrality in the mushrooming world conflict. In 1916, the United States reached agreement with Denmark to purchase the Danish Virgin Islands for $25 million.In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the second of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics as he prevailed in the long jump over German Luz Long, who was the first to congratulate him. In 1964, the bodies of missing civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney were found buried in an earthen dam in Mississippi. In 1972, Arthur Bremer was convicted and sentenced in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, to 63 years in prison for his attempt on the life of Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace (the sentence was later reduced to 53 years; Bremer was released from prison in 2007). In 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed a measure establishing the Department of Energy. In 1987, the Federal Communications Commission voted 4-0 to abolish the Fairness Doctrine, which required radio and television stations to present balanced coverage of controversial issues. In 1993, a federal judge sentenced Los Angeles police officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell to 2 1/2 years in prison for violating Rodney King's civil rights. In 1996, on the final day of the Atlanta Olympics, Josiah Thugwane became the first Black South African to win a gold medal as he finished first in the marathon.In 2001, thousands of admirers turned out in London for what would prove to be the last birthday celebration for Britain's Queen Mother Elizabeth, who had turned 101. (The Queen Mother died in March 2002.)In 2009, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee for entering the country illegally and ordered their release during a surprise visit by former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Ten years ago: BP PLC reported the broken well head at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico was plugged up with mud; President Barack Obama said the battle to contain one of the world's worst oil spills was "finally close to coming to an end." Eight days after turning 35, Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th home run, becoming the youngest player to attain the milestone. (A-Rod's two-run, first-inning drive off Toronto's Shaun Marcum put New York ahead, and the Yankees coasted to a 5-1 victory over the Blue Jays.)Five years ago: President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made dueling appeals to the American Jewish community as they sought to rally support for their opposing positions on the Iranian nuclear deal; Netanyahu made his case against the agreement in a live webcast with more than 10,000 participants, according to the U.S. Jewish groups that organized the event, while Obama held a private meeting at the White House with Jewish leaders.One year ago: A masked gunman fired on revelers enjoying summer nightlife in a popular entertainment district of Dayton, Ohio, leaving nine people dead and 27 wounded; police said officers shot and killed the shooter within 30 seconds of the start of his rampage. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suffered a fractured shoulder in a fall outside his Louisville, Kentucky home.Today's Birthdays: Actor-singer Tina Cole is 77. Actor-comedian Richard Belzer is 76. Football Hall of Famer John Riggins is 71. Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is 65. Actor-screenwriter Billy Bob Thornton is 65. Actor Kym Karath (Film: "The Sound of Music") is 62. Hall of Fame track star Mary Decker Slaney is 62. Actor Lauren Tom is 61. Former President Barack Obama is 59. Producer Michael Gelman (TV: "Live with Kelly &amp; Ryan") is 59. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Roger Clemens is 58. Actor Crystal Chappell is 55. Author Dennis Lehane is 55. Rock musician Rob Cieka (Boo Radleys) is 52. Actor Daniel Dae Kim is 52. Actor Michael DeLuise is 51. Former race car driver Jeff Gordon is 49. Rapper-actor Yo-Yo is 49. Country singer Jon Nicholson is 47. Rhythm-and-blues singer-actor Marques Houston is 39. Britain's Duchess of Sussex, the former actor Meghan Markle, is 39. Actor Abigail Spencer is 39. Actor/director Greta Gerwig is 37. Country singer Crystal Bowersox (TV: "American Idol") is 35. Rock singer Tom Parker (The Wanted) is 32. Actors Dylan and Cole Sprouse are 28. Singer Jessica Sanchez (TV: "American Idol") is 25.

Today in History -- Aug. 4

At Democrat-backed ksvotes.org, voters agree to let lease personal information in exchange for better platform

By SHERMAN SMITH <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/08/02/privacy-concerns-shadow-popular-voter-registration-website/">Kansas Reflector</a>

The 41,700 people who have turned to <a href="https://www.ksvotes.org/">ksvotes.org</a>
 as a superior alternative to the state’s primitive online platform for 
voter registration probably don’t realize they signed away their 
personal information to be used in targeted advertisements.

Language in the site’s 
privacy policy gives permission to Blueprint Kansas, the organization 
that operates ksvotes.org, to collect contact information, website 
usage, details about your phone or laptop, and all the elements of a 
voter registration form — and use this personal data to send direct 
texts, or give the data to other entities, such as Facebook.

A data security expert says the <a href="https://www.ksvotes.org/privacy-policy">privacy policy</a>
 should be revised, but Blueprint Kansas’ Democratic officers deny using
 the data they collect for political purposes. Republicans fear the 
platform could be used as a tool for Democrats to bolster their ranks.

“We’re in a strange time 
right now in the state of Kansas,” said Mike Kuckelman, chairman of the 
Kansas Republican Party. “We’re seeing <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/07/28/democrats-see-opportunity-for-senate-seat-in-kansas-gop-primary-battle/">millions of dollars come in from out of state</a>
 trying to influence the Republican primary in the U.S. Senate race. If 
you think that people won’t undertake underhanded efforts to affect 
elections, that’s a pretty naive view.

“So I’m skeptical of sites
 like this, of what they’re really going to do with the data and what 
kind of an unfair advantage they’re going to give.”

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit,&nbsp;Blueprint Kansas is prohibited from partisan activity.

Brian McClendon, the 
former Google executive and 2018 Democratic candidate for secretary of 
state, said he and the three others involved with Blueprint Kansas never
 have harvested data for political purposes. The organization only sends
 messages reminding people to vote, he said, and has never made the 
information available for campaigns to use.

Other officers for 
Blueprint Kansas are Jamie Shew, a Democrat who oversees elections as 
Douglas County clerk; Kate Davis, a legislative liaison in Democratic 
Gov. Laura Kelly’s office; and Patrick Miller, a registered Republican 
and political science professor at the University of Kansas.

“We have never sat down 
and said, ‘Well, what can we do to screw Republicans or benefit 
Democrats?’&nbsp;” Miller said. “We don’t talk about partisan things. We 
don’t have partisan goals. We just want a tool that’s going to make 
registration and ballot access easy for as many people as possible.”

A link to the ksvotes.org 
privacy policy can be found at the bottom of the website, below the form
 that asks for name, date of birth, zip code, email and phone number.

From the policy: “We may 
disclose personal information that we collect or you provide as 
described in this policy to third parties we use to support our 
business, including advertising.”

Lorrie Cranor, director of
 the CyLab Security and Privacy Institute at Carnegie Mellon University,
 said her hunch is the operators of ksvotes.org only want to use the 
information to support the site, but the privacy policy is written too 
broadly to be sure.

“They didn’t make me completely convinced that the data wouldn’t be used for reasons that the users don’t want,” Cranor said.

Because the privacy policy
 allows Blueprint Kansas to partner with third parties, Cranor said, the
 group could obtain personal information from Google or any of the 
“gazillion advertising companies” that track the types of websites 
individuals visit and search terms they use.

In skilled hands, as a 
hypothetical example, the pairing of a marketing profile and voter 
registration data could allow someone to target messages to registered 
voters of a particular party who have visited websites affiliated with 
the Catholic church.

All of the individuals 
associated with Blueprint Kansas deny using the data in this way. Sam 
Coleman, a spokesman for the governor, said Davis’ duties for the 
governor involve working with legislators, stakeholders and advocates. 
He said Davis hasn’t provided data from ksvotes.org to the governor’s 
office, campaign or political allies.

Even if that is true, 
Cranor said, the language of the privacy policy indicates the operators 
of ksvotes.org eventually want to use the data for additional purposes.

“If they are not actually 
doing any of that tracking, then they should put it in writing and 
commit to it,” Cranor said. “Because otherwise, OK, so you’re not doing 
it today. And then tomorrow, you start. I’ll never know when you’re 
gonna start doing it because you’ve put it in your policy that you could
 do it.”

Kuckelman, the GOP chairman, said as an attorney, he advises clients when they sign an agreement, “read what it says they can do and assume that they will, because they have every right to do that.”

“When
 you go to this site, by agreeing to their terms, you agree they can 
give that information they collect to the third parties — including 
advertising, including businesses,” Kuckelman said. “They can do it, so 
I’m not sure what difference it makes what they say.”

McClendon oversaw 
construction of ksvotes.org, which launched in 2017 in direct response 
to a proof of citizenship law favored by former Secretary of State Kris 
Kobach.

Before <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/news/20180618/judge-sides-with-aclu-in-voter-registration-fight-orders-kobach-to-go-to-school">a federal judge struct down the law as unconstitutional</a>, Kansas required prospective voters to produce a copy of their birth certificate when they registered to vote.

As a result, McClendon said, online voter registrations dropped considerably.

He seized an opportunity 
to use the less restrictive federal voter registration form and bypass 
Kansas law. The ksvotes.org platform delivers a PDF to county clerks and
 sends verification to the voter that the registration was received. In 
2018, a Spanish language version of the form was added to the site, as 
well as a function to request advanced ballots.

This year, starting in 
April, more than 29,000 people have requested an advanced ballot through
 ksvotes.org — including more than 14,000 in the month of July, 
according to numbers <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pjiN48LhbNE6q7equH330kuJyAkBjEWNZEbG0iCyYqU/edit#gid=658147313">published directly through the site</a>. McClendon, whose technological aptitude includes <a href="https://www.lifewire.com/default-center-google-earth-1616453">creating Google Maps</a>, said he can determine who has requested a ballot but not yet turned it in, and send the individual a reminder to do so.

“The fact of the matter is
 people who ask for an advance ballot are going to vote 90% of the 
time,” McClendon said. “So getting folks to request an advanced ballot 
is just like getting them out to vote, and I think that’s incredibly 
valuable.”

By comparison, the 
Secretary of State’s voter registration platform isn’t responsive to the
 small screens on mobile devices and doesn’t notify a voter if there is a
 problem with the registration. Because it relies on a Kansas Department
 of Revenue database, the state platform requires prospective voters to 
have a driver’s license, which isn’t required at ksvotes.org.

Katie Koupal, a 
spokeswoman for Secretary of State’s office, said the department is 
working with the Kansas Department of Revenue to modernize the platform,
 but there is no timetable for the overhaul.

The current state platform
 is actually an improvement over the one that existed when Kobach was in
 office. Shew, the Douglas County clerk, said the previous system was 
full of bugs. He said he would get lengthy error reports from the state a
 day before the election with hundreds of registrations from months 
before that had to be manually entered into the poll book.

“I didn’t get involved in 
this project because I’m a Democrat,” Shew said of ksvotes.org. “I got 
involved because I’m a county clerk that saw that voters weren’t getting
 registered to vote through the system that was available to them and 
they were being denied their right to vote.”

Lauren Bonds, legal 
director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, said any 
concerns with ksvotes.org should be considered in relation to the 
Secretary of State’s cumbersome process and track record.

The ACLU <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/news/20180325/aclu-no-lawyer-trick-needed-to-spurn-kobach-claims-of-voter-fraud">successfully sued Kobach</a>
 over his unfounded claims of voter fraud and the proof of citizenship 
law, which blocked more than 30,000 eligible Kansans from voting. The <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/news/20191210/aclu-of-kansas-announces-deal-to-abandon-crosscheck-for-foreseeable-future">ACLU also forced discontinuation</a>
 of the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program, a tool used to
 find duplicate voter registrations but which produced false positives 
99% of the time.

The ACLU’s class action 
lawsuit over the Crosscheck program was filed after a security failing 
in which passwords and partial Social Security numbers of 945 Kansas 
voters were exposed, and a Homeland Security audit confirmed 
vulnerabilities with the program.

“It’s not a particularly 
secure environment to begin with,” Bonds said, “and so I think that’s 
got to be part of the conversation, too, when we’re saying, ‘Where’s the
 best place for people to register?'”

Kobach, <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/podcast/kris-kobach-warns-gop-voters-not-to-be-fooled-by-general-election-oddsmakers/">now a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate</a>, said most people who go to ksvotes.org probably think of it as “just a handy registration website.”

“It’s not concerning that 
they’re registering people, but if you’re collecting data about somebody
 and not informing them, or people don’t know the full scope of the 
data, that does concern me,” Kobach said.

The Secretary of State’s office recommends prospective voters use its application to avoid security concerns.

Kuckelman said he was 
concerned that people who use ksvotes.org may mistakenly believe they 
are dealing directly with the state of Kansas.

“In
 the Republican Party, we’ve always felt that ksvotes.org is a mechanism
 driven by Democrats to try to sign up folks, and I’ve always been 
concerned about the data they’re capturing,” Kuckelman said.

Miller, the political 
science professor, said nobody has ever expressed concerns to him about 
the privacy policy before, and that he would be willing to consider 
recommendations to change it.

“Any
 implication that this is a partisan thing, or that voters’ data is 
being improperly used or shared, I just roundly reject that,” Miller 
said.

Sherman Smith has written award-winning news stories about the instability of the Kansas foster care system, misconduct by government officials, sexual abuse, technology, education, and the Legislature. He spent 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal, where he started on the copy desk, then oversaw digital operations, was the managing editor and reported from the Statehouse. A lifelong Kansan, he graduated from Emporia State University in 2004 as a Shepherd Scholar with a degree in English.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596480863507.jpeg" alt="The ksvotes.org website offers the best platform for registering to vote online, but language in the privacy policy raises concerns about the data being collected and whether it could ever be used for political purposes. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>The ksvotes.org website offers the best platform for registering to vote online, but language in the privacy policy raises concerns about the data being collected and whether it could ever be used for political purposes. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>At Democrat-backed ksvotes.org, voters agree to let lease personal information in exchange for better platform</h2>By SHERMAN SMITH <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/08/02/privacy-concerns-shadow-popular-voter-registration-website/">Kansas Reflector</a>The 41,700 people who have turned to <a href="https://www.ksvotes.org/">ksvotes.org</a>
 as a superior alternative to the state’s primitive online platform for 
voter registration probably don’t realize they signed away their 
personal information to be used in targeted advertisements.Language in the site’s 
privacy policy gives permission to Blueprint Kansas, the organization 
that operates ksvotes.org, to collect contact information, website 
usage, details about your phone or laptop, and all the elements of a 
voter registration form — and use this personal data to send direct 
texts, or give the data to other entities, such as Facebook.A data security expert says the <a href="https://www.ksvotes.org/privacy-policy">privacy policy</a>
 should be revised, but Blueprint Kansas’ Democratic officers deny using
 the data they collect for political purposes. Republicans fear the 
platform could be used as a tool for Democrats to bolster their ranks.“We’re in a strange time 
right now in the state of Kansas,” said Mike Kuckelman, chairman of the 
Kansas Republican Party. “We’re seeing <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/07/28/democrats-see-opportunity-for-senate-seat-in-kansas-gop-primary-battle/">millions of dollars come in from out of state</a>
 trying to influence the Republican primary in the U.S. Senate race. If 
you think that people won’t undertake underhanded efforts to affect 
elections, that’s a pretty naive view.“So I’m skeptical of sites
 like this, of what they’re really going to do with the data and what 
kind of an unfair advantage they’re going to give.”As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit,&nbsp;Blueprint Kansas is prohibited from partisan activity.Brian McClendon, the 
former Google executive and 2018 Democratic candidate for secretary of 
state, said he and the three others involved with Blueprint Kansas never
 have harvested data for political purposes. The organization only sends
 messages reminding people to vote, he said, and has never made the 
information available for campaigns to use.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Just got this unsolicited text (I am registered unaffiliated) <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ksleg?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ksleg</a> <a href="https://t.co/jNxeUYh83t">pic.twitter.com/jNxeUYh83t</a>&mdash; Jonathan Shorman (@jonshorman) <a href="https://twitter.com/jonshorman/status/1287074982275756033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </div>Other officers for 
Blueprint Kansas are Jamie Shew, a Democrat who oversees elections as 
Douglas County clerk; Kate Davis, a legislative liaison in Democratic 
Gov. Laura Kelly’s office; and Patrick Miller, a registered Republican 
and political science professor at the University of Kansas.“We have never sat down 
and said, ‘Well, what can we do to screw Republicans or benefit 
Democrats?’&nbsp;” Miller said. “We don’t talk about partisan things. We 
don’t have partisan goals. We just want a tool that’s going to make 
registration and ballot access easy for as many people as possible.”‘Commit to it’ 
A link to the ksvotes.org 
privacy policy can be found at the bottom of the website, below the form
 that asks for name, date of birth, zip code, email and phone number.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596480974303.jpeg" alt="Language in the ksvotes.org privacy policy allows the site to collect more personal data than what voters enter into their registration forms, and turn that data over to third parties for advertising. (Illustration by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Language in the ksvotes.org privacy policy allows the site to collect more personal data than what voters enter into their registration forms, and turn that data over to third parties for advertising. (Illustration by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>From the policy: “We may 
disclose personal information that we collect or you provide as 
described in this policy to third parties we use to support our 
business, including advertising.”Lorrie Cranor, director of
 the CyLab Security and Privacy Institute at Carnegie Mellon University,
 said her hunch is the operators of ksvotes.org only want to use the 
information to support the site, but the privacy policy is written too 
broadly to be sure.“They didn’t make me completely convinced that the data wouldn’t be used for reasons that the users don’t want,” Cranor said.Because the privacy policy
 allows Blueprint Kansas to partner with third parties, Cranor said, the
 group could obtain personal information from Google or any of the 
“gazillion advertising companies” that track the types of websites 
individuals visit and search terms they use.In skilled hands, as a 
hypothetical example, the pairing of a marketing profile and voter 
registration data could allow someone to target messages to registered 
voters of a particular party who have visited websites affiliated with 
the Catholic church.All of the individuals 
associated with Blueprint Kansas deny using the data in this way. Sam 
Coleman, a spokesman for the governor, said Davis’ duties for the 
governor involve working with legislators, stakeholders and advocates. 
He said Davis hasn’t provided data from ksvotes.org to the governor’s 
office, campaign or political allies.“Unequivocally no,” Coleman said.Even if that is true, 
Cranor said, the language of the privacy policy indicates the operators 
of ksvotes.org eventually want to use the data for additional purposes.“If they are not actually 
doing any of that tracking, then they should put it in writing and 
commit to it,” Cranor said. “Because otherwise, OK, so you’re not doing 
it today. And then tomorrow, you start. I’ll never know when you’re 
gonna start doing it because you’ve put it in your policy that you could
 do it.”Kuckelman, the GOP chairman, said as an attorney, he advises clients when they sign an agreement, “read what it says they can do and assume that they will, because they have every right to do that.”“When
 you go to this site, by agreeing to their terms, you agree they can 
give that information they collect to the third parties — including 
advertising, including businesses,” Kuckelman said. “They can do it, so 
I’m not sure what difference it makes what they say.”‘Incredibly valuable’ 
McClendon oversaw 
construction of ksvotes.org, which launched in 2017 in direct response 
to a proof of citizenship law favored by former Secretary of State Kris 
Kobach.Before <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/news/20180618/judge-sides-with-aclu-in-voter-registration-fight-orders-kobach-to-go-to-school">a federal judge struct down the law as unconstitutional</a>, Kansas required prospective voters to produce a copy of their birth certificate when they registered to vote.As a result, McClendon said, online voter registrations dropped considerably.He seized an opportunity 
to use the less restrictive federal voter registration form and bypass 
Kansas law. The ksvotes.org platform delivers a PDF to county clerks and
 sends verification to the voter that the registration was received. In 
2018, a Spanish language version of the form was added to the site, as 
well as a function to request advanced ballots.This year, starting in 
April, more than 29,000 people have requested an advanced ballot through
 ksvotes.org — including more than 14,000 in the month of July, 
according to numbers <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pjiN48LhbNE6q7equH330kuJyAkBjEWNZEbG0iCyYqU/edit#gid=658147313">published directly through the site</a>. McClendon, whose technological aptitude includes <a href="https://www.lifewire.com/default-center-google-earth-1616453">creating Google Maps</a>, said he can determine who has requested a ballot but not yet turned it in, and send the individual a reminder to do so.“The fact of the matter is
 people who ask for an advance ballot are going to vote 90% of the 
time,” McClendon said. “So getting folks to request an advanced ballot 
is just like getting them out to vote, and I think that’s incredibly 
valuable.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596481012727.jpeg" alt="The state’s official online voter registration platform, offered by the Secretary of State’s office and Kansas Department of Revenue, doesn’t respond to smartphone screens or other mobile devices. (Screenshot)" />
 <figcaption>The state’s official online voter registration platform, offered by the Secretary of State’s office and Kansas Department of Revenue, doesn’t respond to smartphone screens or other mobile devices. (Screenshot)</figcaption>
 </figure>By comparison, the 
Secretary of State’s voter registration platform isn’t responsive to the
 small screens on mobile devices and doesn’t notify a voter if there is a
 problem with the registration. Because it relies on a Kansas Department
 of Revenue database, the state platform requires prospective voters to 
have a driver’s license, which isn’t required at ksvotes.org.Katie Koupal, a 
spokeswoman for Secretary of State’s office, said the department is 
working with the Kansas Department of Revenue to modernize the platform,
 but there is no timetable for the overhaul.The current state platform
 is actually an improvement over the one that existed when Kobach was in
 office. Shew, the Douglas County clerk, said the previous system was 
full of bugs. He said he would get lengthy error reports from the state a
 day before the election with hundreds of registrations from months 
before that had to be manually entered into the poll book.“I didn’t get involved in 
this project because I’m a Democrat,” Shew said of ksvotes.org. “I got 
involved because I’m a county clerk that saw that voters weren’t getting
 registered to vote through the system that was available to them and 
they were being denied their right to vote.”‘Driven by Democrats’ 
Lauren Bonds, legal 
director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, said any 
concerns with ksvotes.org should be considered in relation to the 
Secretary of State’s cumbersome process and track record.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596481044132.jpeg" alt="Lauren Bonds, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, says the Secretary of State’s office has a history of not providing a secure environment, or a reliable voter registration platform. (Submitted)" />
 <figcaption>Lauren Bonds, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, says the Secretary of State’s office has a history of not providing a secure environment, or a reliable voter registration platform. (Submitted)</figcaption>
 </figure>The ACLU <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/news/20180325/aclu-no-lawyer-trick-needed-to-spurn-kobach-claims-of-voter-fraud">successfully sued Kobach</a>
 over his unfounded claims of voter fraud and the proof of citizenship 
law, which blocked more than 30,000 eligible Kansans from voting. The <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/news/20191210/aclu-of-kansas-announces-deal-to-abandon-crosscheck-for-foreseeable-future">ACLU also forced discontinuation</a>
 of the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program, a tool used to
 find duplicate voter registrations but which produced false positives 
99% of the time.The ACLU’s class action 
lawsuit over the Crosscheck program was filed after a security failing 
in which passwords and partial Social Security numbers of 945 Kansas 
voters were exposed, and a Homeland Security audit confirmed 
vulnerabilities with the program.“It’s not a particularly 
secure environment to begin with,” Bonds said, “and so I think that’s 
got to be part of the conversation, too, when we’re saying, ‘Where’s the
 best place for people to register?'”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596481070084.jpeg" alt="Former Secretary of State Kris Kobach says he isn’t concerned with ksvotes.org registering people to vote, but not if the site is collecting data without telling people. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Former Secretary of State Kris Kobach says he isn’t concerned with ksvotes.org registering people to vote, but not if the site is collecting data without telling people. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>Kobach, <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/podcast/kris-kobach-warns-gop-voters-not-to-be-fooled-by-general-election-oddsmakers/">now a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate</a>, said most people who go to ksvotes.org probably think of it as “just a handy registration website.”“It’s not concerning that 
they’re registering people, but if you’re collecting data about somebody
 and not informing them, or people don’t know the full scope of the 
data, that does concern me,” Kobach said.The Secretary of State’s office recommends prospective voters use its application to avoid security concerns.Kuckelman said he was 
concerned that people who use ksvotes.org may mistakenly believe they 
are dealing directly with the state of Kansas.“In
 the Republican Party, we’ve always felt that ksvotes.org is a mechanism
 driven by Democrats to try to sign up folks, and I’ve always been 
concerned about the data they’re capturing,” Kuckelman said.Miller, the political 
science professor, said nobody has ever expressed concerns to him about 
the privacy policy before, and that he would be willing to consider 
recommendations to change it.“Any
 implication that this is a partisan thing, or that voters’ data is 
being improperly used or shared, I just roundly reject that,” Miller 
said.Sherman Smith has written award-winning news stories about the instability of the Kansas foster care system, misconduct by government officials, sexual abuse, technology, education, and the Legislature. He spent 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal, where he started on the copy desk, then oversaw digital operations, was the managing editor and reported from the Statehouse. A lifelong Kansan, he graduated from Emporia State University in 2004 as a Shepherd Scholar with a degree in English.

Privacy concerns shadow popular voter registration website

Today is Monday, Aug. 3, the 216th day of 2020. There are 150 days left in the year. 

On August 3, 1993, the Senate voted 96-to-three to confirm Supreme Court nominee Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 

In 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr went on trial before a federal court in Richmond, Virginia, charged with treason. (He was acquitted less than a month later.) 

In 1811, Elisha Otis, founder of the elevator company that still bears his name, was born in Halifax, Vt.

In 1863, the first thoroughbred horse races took place at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.

In 1921, baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis refused to reinstate the former Chicago White Sox players implicated in the "Black Sox" scandal, despite their acquittals in a jury trial. 

In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the first of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics as he took the 100-meter sprint. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1573488868914.jpeg" alt="Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a>" />
 <figcaption>Photo of old book courtesy <a href="http://shutterstock.com">shutterstock</a></figcaption>
 </figure>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSToday is Monday, Aug. 3, the 216th day of 2020. There are 150 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On August 3, 1993, the Senate voted 96-to-three to confirm Supreme Court nominee Ruth Bader Ginsburg. On this date: In 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr went on trial before a federal court in Richmond, Virginia, charged with treason. (He was acquitted less than a month later.) In 1811, Elisha Otis, founder of the elevator company that still bears his name, was born in Halifax, Vt.In 1863, the first thoroughbred horse races took place at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.In 1921, baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis refused to reinstate the former Chicago White Sox players implicated in the "Black Sox" scandal, despite their acquittals in a jury trial. In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the first of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics as he took the 100-meter sprint. In 1949, the National Basketball Association was formed as a merger of the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League.In 1958, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus became the first vessel to cross the North Pole underwater. In 1972, the U.S. Senate ratified the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union. (The U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the treaty in 2002.) In 1981, U.S. air traffic controllers went on strike, despite a warning from President Ronald Reagan they would be fired, which they were. In 1994, Arkansas carried out the nation's first triple execution in 32 years. Stephen G. Breyer was sworn in as the Supreme Court's newest justice in a private ceremony at Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's Vermont summer home. In 2014, Israel withdrew most of its ground troops from the Gaza Strip in an apparent winding down of a nearly monthlong operation against Hamas that had left more than 1,800 Palestinians and more than 60 Israelis dead.In 2018, Las Vegas police said they were closing their investigation into the Oct. 1 shooting that left 58 people dead at a country music festival without a definitive answer for why Stephen Paddock unleashed gunfire from a hotel suite onto the concert crowd.Ten years ago: Engineers began pumping heavy drilling mud into the blown-out Gulf of Mexico oil well in an attempt to permanently plug the leak. A warehouse driver killed eight co-workers and himself in a shooting rampage at a Manchester, Connecticut, beer distributorship.Five years ago: Seeking to clamp down on power plant emissions, President Barack Obama unveiled a federal plan that would attempt to slow global warming by dramatically shifting the way Americans get and use electricity; opponents denounced the proposal as an egregious federal overreach that would send power prices surging, and vowed lawsuits and legislation to try to stop it.One year ago: A gunman opened fire at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, leaving 22 people dead; prosecutors said Patrick Crusius targeted Mexicans in hopes of scaring Latinos into leaving the U.S., and that he had outlined the plot in a screed published online shortly before the attack. (Crusius has pleaded not guilty to state murder charges; he also faces federal hate crime and gun charges.)Today's Birthdays: Football Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy is 95. Singer Tony Bennett is 94. Actor Martin Sheen is 80. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Lance Alworth is 80. Lifestyle guru Martha Stewart is 79. Singer Beverly Lee (The Shirelles) is 79. Rock musician B.B. Dickerson is 71. Movie director John Landis is 70. Actor JoMarie Payton is 70. Actor Jay North (TV: "Dennis the Menace") is 69. Hockey Hall-of-Famer Marcel Dionne is 69. Actor Philip Casnoff is 66. Actor John C. McGinley is 61. Rock singer-musician Lee Rocker (The Stray Cats) is 59. Actor Lisa Ann Walter is 59. Rock singer James Hetfield (Metallica) is 57. Rock singer-musician Ed Roland (Collective Soul) is 57. Actor Isaiah Washington is 57. Country musician Dean Sams (Lonestar) is 54. Rock musician Stephen Carpenter (Deftones) is 50. Hip-hop artist Spinderella (Salt-N-Pepa) is 49. Actor Brigid Brannagh is 48. Actor Michael Ealy is 47. Country musician Jimmy De Martini (Zac Brown Band) is 44. NFL quarterback Tom Brady is 43. Actor Evangeline Lilly is 41. Actor Mamie Gummer is 37. Olympic gold medal swimmer Ryan Lochte is 36. Country singer Whitney Duncan is 36. Actor Jon Foster is 36. Actor Georgina Haig is 35. Singer Holly Arnstein (Dream) is 35. Actor Tanya Fischer is 35. Pop-rock musician Brent Kutzle (OneRepublic) is 35. Rapper D.R.A.M. is 32.