Former Secretary of State (under Trump) is bringing his proto-presidential fundraising campaign to San Diego.

Faulconer’s leavings

Mike Pompeo, who served as Secretary of State under President Donald Trump, is bringing his proto-presidential fundraising campaign to San Diego. “We invite you to an incredibly unique opportunity to join Secretary Mike Pompeo for conversation and lunch on Tuesday, October 19th,” says an email to local Republican fat cats. “As chair of CAVPAC, Champion American Values PAC, Secretary Pompeo is working to promote the conservative values upon which America was founded and lifting to victory candidates who stand up to the radical Left’s agenda.”

Kevin Faulconer didn’t break out, but maybe his charity-runner will.

The event at the University Club downtown is said to be limited to 25 people, each required to cough up $1000 for the cause. Those who up their contribution to $5000 get in on the VIP Roundtable. “Our hope is to have a strong representation of passionate individuals in San Diego as ultimately we would like to see CAVPAC support California candidates and elected officials.”

The invite is signed June and Dena of the fundraising operation Highland-Illuminate. “Highland Political, LLC is a political fundraising and public relations company founded by June Cutter. Highland-Illuminate is a joint venture created to provide premiere fundraising, brand building, and event marketing services to clients in the political and non-profit sectors,” says the firm’s website. “June proved herself as an impressive fundraiser and fresh face for the Republican Party when she ran for the California State Assembly in 2020. She is now taking the momentum she built during her own campaign and using it to help other center-right candidates create fresh messaging that resonates with voters, and donors, throughout the State of California.”

Cutter’s partner Dena DiSarro Cruden is a veteran of San Diego ex-mayor Kevin Faulconer’s now-defunct charity work, which he once hoped would help propel him to higher office. “In 2019, the California Women’s Leadership Association recognized Dena as a ‘Non-Profit Pioneer’ for her leadership of One San Diego, the non-profit organization started by Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and First Lady Katherine Stuart Faulconer.

”...Reuters news service is out with a report that media giant AT&T has been a key financial backer of San Diego-based One America cable TV and online operation. ‘”They told us they wanted a conservative network,” company founder Robert Herring said regarding AT&T’s longtime support in a 2019 deposition seen by Reuters. “They only had one, which was Fox News, and they had seven others on the other [left wing] side. When they said that, I jumped to it and built one.” Per the October 6 account, “Since then, AT&T has been a crucial source of funds flowing into OAN, providing tens of millions of dollars in revenue, court records show. Ninety percent of OAN’s revenue came from a contract with AT&T-owned television platforms, including satellite broadcaster DirecTV, according to 2020 sworn testimony by an OAN accountant.”

Dead dolphins don’t talk

It took almost six years, but government scientists say they finally have a theory about the mysterious demise of three dolphins found on the beach near a Navy training exercise. “Two freshly dead, adult coastal common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), stranded one mile apart from each other on Silver Strand State Beach in Coronado, San Diego County, California on October 21, 2015,” says a post-mortem by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration dated earlier this year. “Ten days later, an additional adult T. truncatus stranded dead in advanced decomposition along the same beach. The spatial and temporal similarities of the strandings represented an unusual occurrence for the region.”

Did sonar make Flipper flounder?

Adds the report, “Possible explanations for the observed findings in common with all three specimens are: exposure to an underwater detonation, [acute] underwater entrapment, or exposure to mid-frequency active sonar.” Conclude the findings: “All three dolphins clearly suffered severe acute trauma, likely anthropogenic in nature, although the exact cause cannot be confirmed.” More dolphin dead were discovered washed up on the shore in Imperial Beach during the same period.

“Lifeguard sergeant Jason Lindquist said the three dolphin corpses were found by lifeguards during their early-morning rounds on October 16, October 20, and November 3. Another dolphin was found on October 21 to the north on Silver Strand beach,” noted a November 16, 2015, account by Vincent Farnsworth here. “The October 20/21 beaching of bottlenose dolphins at Imperial Beach and Silver Strand are being investigated by the National Marine Fisheries Service of the NOAA in connection with the Navy sonar use on the dates of October 19 and 20.”

— Matt Potter (@sdmattpotter)

The Reader offers $25 for news tips published in this column. Call our voice mail at 619-235-3000, ext. 440, or sandiegoreader.com/staff/matt-potter/contact/.