Other stories in today’s column include:
*Impeachment efforts may hamper new administration’s need for quick action
*San Diego County Voices
*Zoom Cast January 28 Will Pay Tribute to Jewish songwriter Debbie Friedman
*In Memoriam
[Names in boldface type are those of known members of the Jewish community]
SAN DIEGO — U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer Jr. has announced his office in San Diego “will work closely with our law enforcement partners, including the U.S. Attorney’s office in the District of Columbia, to ensue that any individuals from San Diego or Imperial Counties who were involved in criminal activity at the U.S. Capitol are brought to justice. If we determine that federal charges should be brought in this District, we will aggressively prosecute all such matters.”
His statement added, “Anyone with information regarding the events of January 6 should contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation” via this website. On that site, a note from the FBI reads: “The FBI is seeking information that will assist in identifying individuals who are actively instigating violence in Washington, DC. The FBI is accepting tips and digital media depicting rioting and violence in the U.S. Capitol Building and surrounding area in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021. If you have witnessed unlawful violent actions, we urge you to submit any information, photos, or videos that could be relevant..”
It’s not too difficult to read between the lines of this announcement. San Diegan Ashli Babbitt, a Q-Anon supporter, was fatally shot by a Capitol Police Officer as she was pushing her way into the Capitol Building. The natural questions arise who else from San Diego might have been involved with her? What was Babbitt planning to do after she entered the building? Was she engaged in this action, or plans, with other San Diegans?
Besides possibly having information about that, San Diegans may be able to identify rioters whose pictures have been carried in both the news media and on social media.
We wish U.S. Attorney Brewer and the FBI success in bringing to justice any people who in any way may have participated in this violent attempt to prevent the U.S. Congress from exercising its constitutional duty to certify the electoral college results that confirmed the election of former Vice President Joe Biden as our next President and our U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, D-California, as our next Vice President.
It is hoped that the Justice Department and Brewer will determine whether members of Congress who sought to disqualify electoral college results from Arizona and Pennsylvania are able to provide any information bearing on the armed attack on the Capitol. One congressman from San Diego County, Republican Darrell Issa, was among those seeking to block the formal certification of the election results.
At the same time, it is hoped that Brewer’s office will be far more transparent in its handling of this case than it has been in the case against expelled Chabad Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein and associates in their tax schemes to defraud the U.S. government. News of plea deals are still coming out in drips and drabs in this case, with the most recent news being that one Igor Shtilkind, who worked for an “aerospace and defense technology company” defrauded that company of $17,500 over a ten-year period by getting it to match contributions to Goldstein-run charities that subsequently were refunded to Shtilkind by Goldstein. In addition, Shtilkind will be required to pay back $9,520 in back taxes to the federal government as part of a deferred prosecution agreement in which he will cooperate with the government’s ongoing investigation into Goldstein’s scheme.
Meanwhile, Goldstein, in a similar deferred prosecution arrangement, has agreed to pay $2.5 million in restitution to the victims of his scheme, and Brewer has agreed to recommend a sentence in which the former rabbi will avoid serving any prison time. Brewer has said that such leniency was in exchange for Goldstein’s cooperation in the case which so far has seen nine people plead guilty to tax fraud. Additionally, he has credited Goldstein with spreading messages of peace following the armed attack of April 27, 2019 on Chabad of Poway in which congregant Lori Gilbert Kaye was murdered and three other people, including Goldstein, were wounded.
Brewer has been tight-lipped about why Goldstein, the alleged architect of the scheme, deserves such leniency, and has declined to disclose what role he as U.S. Attorney played, if any, in informing the White House of Goldstein’s criminal conspiracy before Goldstein was invited to appear there with President Trump on the following National Prayer Day on May 2nd. Brewer’s office had been investigating Goldstein for at least six months before the shooting.
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Impeachment efforts may hamper new administration’s need for quick action
President-elect Joe Biden reportedly has been less than thrilled about the overwhelming demand in Congress to impeach or otherwise punish President Donald Trump for the role he played in stirring up the crowd that assaulted the Capitol, resulting in five deaths as well as looting and vandalism. The more consumed Congress is with this issue, the less time it will have to help Biden advance his own administration’s priorities, such as improving the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and resuscitating the national economy. The President-elect also would like to see the people he has designated for Cabinet positions swiftly confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Given the fear that insurrectionists may try to attack the Capitol again, or otherwise engage in armed assaults on federal and state institutions, Biden particularly would like fast action on such Cabinet nominees as Alejandro Mayorkas for the Department of Homeland Security, Judge Merrick Garland for Attorney General, and retired 4-Star Army General Lloyd J. Austin III for the Department of Defense.
Because of a law that requires the Defense Secretary to have been retired at least seven years from the military, Gen. Austin, who retired in 2016, will need to receive a waiver of that law from the Congress. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) has been outspoken in his opposition to that–noting that such a waiver was granted during the Trump administration to former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who had been a four-star Marine Corp general. He told a reporter for The New York Times: “Civilian control of a non-political military is a foundational principle, written into our Constitution, and absolutely essential to democracy. If a waiver for the rule that protects this principle is approved twice in four years, in both Republican and Democratic administrations, it starts to become a norm, not an exception.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-San Diego, and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz,), a colleague on the House Armed Services Committee, wrote to Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller urging him to work with the FBI and Department of Justice in identifying any “current or former military members who may have participated” in the Capitol attack. If military members are involved, the Congressmembers said, they “have disgraced themselves and committed serious crimes against the people of the United States.” Such individuals, they added “should have the book thrown at them for [violating[ their oaths and duty to the nation.”
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San Diego County Voices
*U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego) said on Monday: ““President Trump incited an attempted coup at the Capitol that resulted in the death of five people. Clearly, the president is incapable or is unwilling to carry out his sworn duty to protect and defend the democracy. As a consequence, Vice President Mike Pence should invoke the 25th amendment. I want Republicans who created this tragic disaster to own it, and I want to give them the chance to take it upon themselves to fix it. Should they refuse, I will vote to impeach when the article comes before us this week.”
*The Borrego Springs Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau urged: “As a sign of respect for the service and sacrifice of United States Capitol Police Officers Brian D. Sicknick and Howard Liebengood, and all Capitol Police Officers and law enforcement across this great nation, please fly the United States Flag at Half-Staff immediately through sunset on Wednesday, January 13, 2021 honoring the United States Capitol Police Officers per the President of the United States and by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America.”
*Scott Lewis, editor of The Voice of San Diego, comments: “[U.S. Rep. Darrell] Issa was trying to overturn the election. The president expressly wanted him to, and pressured many of his colleagues in the House and Senate to. As the latest videos and witness testimony from inside the mob make horrifically clear, had the marauders been able to locate the lawmakers or Vice President Mike Pence, they would have tried to murder them. And after that happened, Issa indulged the conspiracy theory that drove the mad horde into the Capitol.”
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Zoom Cast January 28 Will Pay Tribute to Jewish songwriter Debbie Friedman
It’s been ten years since the death of Jewish songwriter Debbie Friedman, whose prayers set to melodies have become standard in many congregations — in particular her Misheberach prayer seeking healing for those who are sick. Hebrew Union College/ Jewish Institute of Religion will mark Friedman’s tenth yahrzeit with an online musical tribute to Friedman at 5 p.m. PST, Thursday, Jan. 28, via Zoom.
In a joint message, Cantor Richard Cohn, director of the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music, and Merri Lovinger Arian, a faculty artist at the Hebrew Union College/ Jewish Institute of Religion, noted: “This year, of course, our gathering will be virtual, which — although challenging in many ways — offers us the unique opportunity to widen our tent as we welcome friends from across the country and around the world. Join us as we sing some of the beloved music that shaped our Jewish souls, our collective Jewish identity, and in so doing continue to be inspired and renewed by Debbie’s spirit!”
San Diego Jewish World would like to thank Stan & Laurel Schwartz of the Jewish Historical Society of San Diego for making us aware of this event.
In Memoriam
Alexander Carl Green, M.D., 78, died December 28, 2020, Am Israel Mortuary reported. Private services were conducted at the Miramar National Cemetery, 57955 Nobel Drive, San Diego. Dr. Green’s family provided the following obituary: “Dr. Alexander Carl Green passed away on December 28, 2020, succumbing to complications from Lewy body Dementia. He was a well loved, well respected member of the psychiatric community. Dr. Green was born in Philadelphia, PA where he was educated in the public schools. As a young person, he loved reading, excelled at figure skating & at age 14, was the youngest person in PA to receive a ham radio operator license. Alex was proud to say he lettered in Chess in high school. He completed his higher education in PA obtaining a BS from Villanova University & an MD from Jefferson Medical College. Internship & Residencies were at the Institute of PA Hospital & Mt. Sinai in NYC. Dr. Green served in the US Army Medical Corps, during the Vietnam Era, receiving an Honorable Discharge with the rank of Major. He practiced psychiatry for 7 years at the University of Delaware & Wilmington Medical Center, prior to relocating to San Diego in 1982. He completed a Fellowship in Consultation/Liaison Psychiatry @ UCSD in 1983 & opened a private practice, specializing in psychosomatic pain, traumatic stress & legal issues. For 20 years, he was a Prisoner of War Psychiatrist at the VA in La Jolla, CA. Dr. Green was a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology, a Diplomate in the Subspecialty of Forensic Medicine and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Over his career, he was a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCSD, Chair of the Fellowship Committee for the SD Psychiatric Society & President of the SD Psychiatric Society. Throughout his life, Alex loved reading, swimming, dancing & music. He accompanied the choir at Congregation Dor Hadash for many years & was awarded the Judith & Ira Eisenstein Award by the Jewish Reconstructionist Movement for his service to the music community. Dr. Green is survived by his wife of 30 years, Genell Greenberg & his daughter Sophia Green, both of Carlsbad, CA. He will be remembered as a brilliant, kind & incredibly patient man. He was loved deeply & will be missed tremendously. Dr. Green will be interned at a private family service at the Miramar National Cemetery with Military Honors. Donations in his memory may be made to the Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Fund #2140. Checks payable to: UCSD Foundation, 9500 Gilman Drive #0940, La Jolla, CA 92093
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.comFree obituaries in memory of members of the San Diego County Jewish community are sponsored on San Diego Jewish World by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg.