Tattoo shops offer free Trump and Sanders ink ahead of primaries

Tattoo parlors in New England are inking Donald Trump and Bernard Sanders supporters for free if they’re willing to brand their bodies with the names, faces or slogans of either presidential hopeful ahead of the upcoming New Hampshire primaries.

After the owner of The Clay Dragon Tattoo Parlor in Seabrook, New Hampshire, announced last month that he was offering free tattoos of Mr. Trump for fans of the Republican Party front-runner, Aartistic Inc. in Winooski, Vermont, agreed to do the same with designs inspired by the Democratic hopeful.

Tyre Duvernay, the owner of Aartistic, originally said he would give out complimentary tattoos of Mr. Sanders’ face only to customers who who wanted to cover up Trump-related ink, but has since started offering his free designs to anyone who will show their support for the Democratic contender.

“We’re personally insulted by the whole free Donald Trump tattoo and I don’t want people to get the wrong idea only Donald Trump has followers that are that passionate,” he told a local ABC News affiliate last week.

Mr. Duvernay said his phone has been ringing nonstop since he announced the promotion last week, with customers from across the country booking appointments.

“We’ve done at least 30,” he told an ABC affiliate in New York Wednesday. “We’re getting five to 10 calls a day, and there are plenty more on the books.”

As of Thursday, the artist said his staffers had given out about 60 free tattoos of the senator between his Winooski shop and another in Montpelier, The Observer reported.

Across state lines in New Hampshire, however, the billionaire businessman is polling not too far behind Mr. Sanders — at least tattoo-wise.

Bob Holmes, the owner of Clay Dragon, told reporters this week that he has done about 27 designs involving the Trump campaign since he announced he would be inking customers for free late last month.

“Come in, pick your logo, pick his face, pick whatever you want that says ‘Trump.’ We’ll do it for free. 100 percent for free,” Mr. Holmes told ABC News this week.

Customers are welcome to tip the tattoo artists at Clay Dragon, but Mr. Holmes said his employees will be donating a percentage of any money earned with Trump tattoos to a charity that supports wounded veterans.

Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Sanders are in New Hampshire this week ahead of the state’s first-in-the-nation primaries on Tuesday.

Tattoo shops offer free Trump and Sanders ink ahead of primaries

Feinstein vows to offer bill to pierce encryption

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is vowing to lead the charge on legislation that would require companies to decrypt data under court order.

“I’m going to seek legislation if nobody else is,” she said during an FBI oversight hearing Wednesday

ADVERTISEMENT

Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) is also working with her on the bill, she added.

The recent terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., have resurrected a Capitol Hill push to compel companies like Apple and Google to hand over encrypted data to law enforcement officials.

“I think this world is really changing in terms of people wanting the protection and wanting law enforcement, if there is conspiracy going on over the Internet, that that encryption ought to be able to be pierced,” Feinstein said.

But many prominent tech players have argued that even they are unable to access customers’ encrypted data, and thus cannot comply with a court order to turn over the digital communications. They say any form of guaranteed access to secured data defeats the purpose of encryption, exposing customer data to hackers as well as to government officials.

Apple recently rejected a court order seeking encrypted iMessages, citing its unbreakable encryption system.

Law enforcement officials and some lawmakers warn this situation is making it exceedingly difficult for investigators to track potential terrorists and criminals.

“I have concern about a Playstation, which my grandchildren might use, and a predator getting on the other end talking to them and it’s all encrypted,” Feinstein said. “And so I think there really is reason to have the ability, with a court order, to be able to …. get into that.”

FBI Director James Comey, the sole witness during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, agreed with Feinstein.

“I would very much like to get to a world,” he said, in which “if a judge issues an order, companies are able to comply to either unlock a device or to provide the communications between terrorists or between drug dealers or kidnappers.”

Comey believes it’s possible to respond to such court orders without irrevocably damaging the encryption.

“Lots of companies do it today, provide secure services and comply with court orders,” he said.

But Comey stopped short of fully endorsing Feinstein’s legislative push.

“The question of whether the answer is compelling them to do that by legislation is one that I can’t answer sitting here,” he said.

The Obama administration decided in October to, at least temporarily, not pursue a bill that would force companies to hand over encrypted data.

Feinstein vows to offer bill to pierce encryption