I witness a difference in the treatment of male staffers and female staffers, yes. In a statement, Reese denies all allegations. He was fired in October and not placed on the Do Not Hire list. Some of the former fired staffers brought their concerns about Reese last year to the mayor’s chief of staff, Christina Passione-Zayas. They say she suggested peace circles and restorative justice to solve the issues with Reese. Yesterday, Mayor Johnson denied knowing about the allegations against Reese until last week, when his office received a Freedom of Information Act request for a copy of Reese’s personnel file.

Some alters doubt it. I don’t see how the mayor could not know about this. The mayor is saying that he did not know about it. I think that there’s going to be some requests, FOIA requests to take a look at communication to determine whether or not that’s true. The four former City Hall employees were taken off the Do Not Hire list following an appeal, but it took over a year. The Do Not Hire list is usually reserved for former employees who are accused of serious misconduct or criminal activity. Yeah, it’s clearly retaliation. Obviously, it’s retaliation. A couple of different things here.

Number one, whistleblowers are never welcomed in any environment. And I’m not saying that you shouldn’t blow the whistle, but most times they look at that as, and this is separate from the mayor’s office. They look at that as being a tattletale and a person that’s not a cultural fit. People that are always looking to say that somebody did something to them or somebody harassed them or all of that. And I don’t know what the request was. I don’t know if they actually, you know, if he actually harassed somebody or something like that. I can’t speak to it because I’m not familiar with the situation.

But whistleblowers are always looked at as, you know, people don’t want to work with those type of people. People don’t want to work with the people that’s always complaining or telling and stuff like that. They don’t want to work with those type of people because it is very difficult to have some sort of working relationship with people that you got to tiptoe around all day long. On the flip side, I do think that the mayor knew what was going on. I do think that it’s possibly retaliation. And that’s just the way that it go. A lot of times y’all don’t understand that y’all are work for hire.

Like you are an at will employee. And so if you are not meeting expectations or you’re not fitting in, even as corporate people, and I think that a lot of people are used to having union jobs and stuff where, you know, is all based off of seniority and all of this stuff. But in most instances that you work in any corporate environment or if you work in any, you know, legislative environment, you are an at will employee. And so if you don’t fit, then you get fired. So interesting. I’ll keep an eye on that.

In addition to that, Trump, right, Trump is vowing to block the sale of U.S. steel to a Japanese company. Check it out. President-elect Trump has delivered a gut punch to Nippon Steel’s bid to buy U.S. steel in a social media post. Trump says he will block the sale and that he’ll make U.S. steel great again through tax incentives and tariffs. So is the deal really dead? What’s the future of steel making in our region? KDKA lead investigator Andy Sheehan putting those questions to steelworkers and Governor Shapiro. At 150 years old, the Mon Valley Works Edgar Thompson plan is in desperate need of an overhaul.

And though Nippon Steel has promised $1 billion in upgrades, the United Steelworkers oppose U.S. Steel’s sale to the Japanese steelmaker, even if steelworkers themselves are divided. I’m on the side of making steel. And I’m on the side of making steel for whoever owns this facility. I’m partial towards it being domestic and individuals from the United States, citizens of the United States, running and managing the company. But if that’s not the case, I’ll still work for the people who do. For the first time since his election, President-elect Trump delivered a body blow to Nippon’s bid, vowing in a post on Truth Social to block the sale.

Quote, I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. steel being bought by a foreign company. In this case, Nippon Steel of Japan. As president, I will block this deal from happening. Buyer beware. Trump has cited national security. I need to read the rest of it. Let me read the rest of it. Through a series of tax incentives and tariffs, we will make U.S. Steel strong and great again, and it will happen fast. As president, I will block this deal from happening. Buyer beware. I got it. From happening, buyer beware. Trump has cited national security concerns about selling the once giant steel company to a foreign government, even though Japan is a U.S.

ally. And while the Steelworkers Union has also discounted Nippon’s promises of keeping the headquarters in Pittsburgh and that billion-dollar investment, Governor Shapiro says he’s been working with all sides to broker a deal to protect jobs and steelmaking here and will continue despite Trump’s post. I’m less about social media posts and more about doing the hard work. Shapiro said Nippon’s $15 billion… …and more about doing the hard work. So, Josh Shapiro was one of the people that they say was being considered into Kamala Harris’s cabinet as the actual vice presidential candidate. I think that the Biden-Harris slash Harris campaign made a mistake by picking Tim Walz over Josh Shapiro.

They went with the person that was way more liberal that had tampons instead of going with Josh Shapiro. I think that Josh Shapiro is infinitely a better governor than Tim Walz and is more appealing to the things that America wants, even though he may be a Democrat and he’s a liberal. I think that Josh Shapiro would have been a much better candidate. And I said that when they nominated Tim Walz to be the vice presidential candidate, I believe that Josh Shapiro is a much better governor. And Pennsylvania was a must-win state for the Kamala Harris campaign.

But let me see what else he has to say. Shapiro said Nippon’s $15 billion bid is being reviewed by the Committee for Foreign Investment, which will give its recommendation to President Biden. Biden has also expressed his opposition to the deal, and Shapiro isn’t taking sides, but says Biden will have the final say before the end of the month. You haven’t expressly said that you support the Nippon deal. My job is to make sure we protect the jobs and still making here in western Pennsylvania, and that’s what I’m focused on every single day.

Our understanding is that President Biden could still approve this deal. I think that’s a question for President Biden. He ultimately will make the final decision. And so the future of steelmaking in southwestern Pennsylvania may well be decided within the next month, with the steelworkers themselves caught in the middle. They’d like to work for a company that is domestically owned, but not at the expense of not working at all. So I think that this is an interesting thing. The only way that this works, because I am for keeping America jobs in America, I’m also for domestic companies being the ones that own these American jobs.

I’m a little bit conflicted, but only because I’m not sure what the long-term plan is. Long-term, the only way that these people keep their job, regardless of what the investment is inside of these steel mills, is if there’s an environment that’s conducive for them to compete as far as continuing to make steel here in the United States of America. If you don’t have manufacturing here, if we don’t have cars being made here, if we’re not protecting the auto industry, if we’re not protecting the manufacturing of refrigerators and all of these different devices that we then make that is made from steel, if we’re not protecting all of the manufacturers of washing machines and dishwashers and dryers and the industries here, then it doesn’t matter whether or not Nippon Steel comes in and they try to buy the domestic steel maker regardless, because eventually they’re going to outsource it if they can’t turn this into a profitable venture.

So you can upgrade the equipment, you can say that they’re going to buy it, they’re committed to keeping jobs there. Let’s be clear. If they’re not making money, then they will not, they will not keep that thing open. And I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it in Gary, Indiana. I’ve seen it here in Michigan and Pittsburgh. It would happen there too. So we can look at this both from a short term and from a long-term perspective. The fact of the matter is if it is more profitable for the prices of steel to go up and the manufacturing so that we can keep it domestic, if that is the long-term play, then that would be best for America.

But to have a foreign company at the same time over the long term, because really what they would do is they would say, well, we’re going to invest $1 billion into updating all the manufacturing. Well, that won’t necessarily keep jobs. That won’t necessarily bring new jobs. A lot of times what that does is that forces them to run more efficient. They pair it down. They say, okay, well, we’re going to build a blast furnace over here and we’re going to build a pickle and line over there. And then they get rid of everything else.

And then they have a shell of a company of what they used to and then they take their customers and then they start manufacturing still into other facilities that don’t necessarily keep jobs inside the United States of America. So beware of promises of foreign countries that then say, oh, no, no, no, we’re going to keep jobs here. How many jobs? What does that look like? For what term do you abide by what the rules and the laws are of steel makers inside of Pittsburgh? And what is the long-term play? So I think that there’s more to this and it’s a lot more complex than just looking at it on the surface and saying, yes, this is the way that it needs to go.

All right. So I’m paying attention to that. I’ll continue to keep you all updated on that. And then last but not least, here in Quick Hits, Biden decided that he wanted to give $1 billion and new aid to Africa. Check it out. Being all in on Africa means making sure African voices are heard at the tables that matter most. Under my leadership in the United States, we brought in the African Union as a permanent member of the G20 economies. And we insisted a more African representation among the leaders of the International Monetary Fund and other world financial institutions.

Another DEI. We’ve also pushed to ensure that developing nations do not, do not have to choose between paying down unsustainable debt and being able to invest in their own people. And we’re using our own voice to increase Africa’s presence in the UN Security Council at the United Nations. That should happen. You can clap for that, folks. You should be in there. Whenever you got to tell people that they should clap for it, then it’s a problem. And all I hear is DEI, honestly. The United States continues to be the world’s largest provider of humanitarian aid and development assistance.

And that’s going to increase. You know, that’s the right thing for the wealthiest nation in the world to do. And today, I’m announcing over $1 billion in new humanitarian support for Africans displaced from homes by historic droughts and food insecurity. We don’t even know how to read no more. We know African leaders and citizens are seeking more than just aid. You seek investment. So the United States is expanding our relationship all across Africa, from assistance to aid. Listen, listen, listen. We all know that that $1 billion is going to be stolen left and right, and that does not directly go to the people.

I don’t really understand where this makes sense. I don’t know if he’s just giving away money. I don’t know if this is a part of his diversity, equity, and inclusion, or what. I don’t know if he’s giving this away in order to make it for pardon and hunter, whatever. But none of that money, not one dime, not one dime is ever going to go to the actual real people that are on the ground that are affected from whatever drought that’s happening over in Africa. We know that this is going to go straight to all of the leaders that’s going to steal this thing blind, and it doesn’t make sense.

So anyways, ladies and gentlemen, that is your quick insight. [tr:trw].

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