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Bill Bar Calls On Prosecutors To Drop Cases Against Trump

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The United States Department of Justice, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr encouraged prosecutors to drop pending charges against President-elect Trump.

“The American people have rendered their verdict on President Trump, and decisively chosen him to lead the country for the next four years,” Barr said in an interview with Fox News, after the White House race was called for Trump.

“They did that with full knowledge of the claims against him by prosecutors around the country and I think Attorney General Garland and the state prosecutors should respect the people’s decision and dismiss the cases against President Trump now,” he added.

Trump was convicted in New York on 34 felony charges related to his hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and still faces indictments in three other trials. His actions to block the peaceful transfer of power after his 2020 loss sparked federal charges as well as a case in Georgia, while the former president also faced federal counts for retaining classified documents at his Florida estate, before the case was indefinitely postponed by the judge.

Trump is set to face sentencing in the New York case later this month but has also sought to toss the case after the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents retain broad immunity after leaving office.

The Justice Department (DOJ) under a second Trump administration, is widely expected to move to drop both federal cases against the president-elect.

The Florida case was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on technical grounds involving Smith’s appointment.

The GOP presidential nominee has pledged to fire special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the election interference cases, “within two seconds.”

“He’ll be one of the first things addressed,” Trump said last month.

Barr added that Smith and the DOJ should drop the cases before Trump even takes office.

“Further maneuvering on these cases in the weeks ahead would serve no legitimate purpose and only distract the country and the incoming administration from the task at hand,” he said.

“The public interest now demands that the country unite and focus on the challenges we face at home and abroad. Attorney General Garland and all the state prosecutors should do the right thing and help the country move forward by dismissing the cases,” the former attorney general added.

Report: Melania Trump Statue In Slovenia Sawed Off, Stolen

By The White House - https://www.flickr.com/photos/202101414@N05/54426560683/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=163105965

Police in Slovenia are investigating the disappearance of a bronze statue of U.S. first lady Melania Trump.

The life-size sculpture was unveiled in 2020 during President Donald Trump’s first term in office near Sevnica in central Slovenia, where Melania Knavs was born in 1970. It replaced a wooden statue that had been set on fire earlier that year.

According to Slovenian media reports, the bronze replica was sawed off at the ankles and removed.

The original wooden statue was torched in July 2020. The rustic figure was cut from the trunk of a linden tree, showing her in a pale blue dress like the one she wore at Trump’s presidential inauguration in 2017.

The replica bronze statue has no obvious resemblance to the first lady.

Congresswoman Indicted Following ICE Facility Encounter

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Police image via Pixabay free images

A federal grand jury has indicted U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) on two felony counts and one misdemeanor charge related to a physical altercation with federal officers outside a Newark immigration detention facility.

The incident occurred on May 9 at Delaney Hall, during what was described as a congressional oversight visit. McIver was joined by several Democratic colleagues and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, McIver allegedly struck two federal officers — once with her forearm and again while attempting to block the arrest of Mayor Baraka. Baraka had entered a restricted area without authorization. He was briefly detained for trespassing, but the charges were later dropped.

As The Washington Post reports:

Video released by the Department of Homeland Security showed McIver rushing after the agents as they tried to arrest Baraka outside the facility’s gates and shouting to protesters outside to “surround the mayor.” At one point, McIver’s elbows appear to make contact with a masked officer amid the crush of the crowd.

The two other members of Congress have not been charged.

Habba and McIver havepublicly said that prosecutors tried to reach a resolution with McIver without pressing charges but were not successful, though neither provided details.

“The Justice Department and Alina Habba wanted me to admit to doing something that I did not do, and I was not going to do that,” McIver said on CNN last month. “I came here to do my job and conduct an oversight visit, and they wanted me to say something differently, and I’m not doing that.”

Federal prosecutors claim McIver’s actions constituted assault and obstruction of federal officers in the performance of their duties.

McIver has denied the allegations, claiming the charges are politically motivated and amount to intimidation over her work on immigration oversight. Her attorney, Paul J. Fishman, called the case “political retaliation against a dedicated public servant who refuses to shy away from her oversight responsibilities” and vowed to prove her innocence in court.

Fishman previously served as U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2009 to 2017.

The case is unusual. Criminal indictments of sitting members of Congress are rare — especially ones that don’t involve financial misconduct or corruption. This case centers instead on conduct during an official visit tied to immigration enforcement.

Legal experts say the indictment could reignite debate over how much leeway lawmakers have in conducting oversight of federal agencies, particularly those involving immigration detention practices.

An arraignment date for McIver has not yet been set. If convicted, she faces up to eight years in prison for each felony count, and up to one year for the misdemeanor.

Happening Today: Jury Selection Begins In Trump Assassination Attempt Case

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Fort Pierce, Fla. — Jury selection begins Monday in the federal trial of Ryan Routh, who prosecutors say plotted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf club in September 2024. The process is expected to conclude by Wednesday.

Prospective jurors are being questioned under oath in Fort Pierce to determine whether they can serve impartially. Routh, who is representing himself, will directly question jurors alongside federal prosecutors — an unusual dynamic in the courtroom.

The case is being heard by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who denied a motion from Routh’s defense team seeking her recusal. A Trump appointee, Cannon was randomly assigned to the case.

Federal prosecutors allege Routh camped near Trump’s golf course for 12 hours with a rifle and aimed at a Secret Service agent before being forced to drop the weapon. Investigators later discovered a letter in which Routh expressed regret that he failed to kill Trump, as well as evidence he sought anti-aircraft weapons and surveillance of Trump’s flights weeks before his arrest.

Routh faces charges of attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer, and multiple gun violations — crimes carrying potential life sentences. He has pleaded not guilty to both federal and related state charges.

A 12-member jury, plus alternates, will ultimately decide the case. Federal law requires a unanimous verdict for conviction.

Former Democrat Candidate Charged With Domestic Battery

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Back in the spotlight…

A former Democrat candidate for the Virginia legislature, whose X-rated movies with her husband were exposed before the election, was charged with domestic violence this week.

Susanna Gibson Payne, 42, was arrested on September 22 for “assault and battery” against a family member. Payne claimed that her husband, 44-year-old John David Gibson, has been harassing her amid their divorce since last year.

“After my estranged husband, arrested three times since I filed for divorce, assaulted me during a June 2025 custody exchange while I protected our son, he filed a retaliatory criminal complaint against me,” she said.

Payne said she turned herself in after a misdemeanor warrant was issued.

The Democrat’s husband denied ever assaulting his wife. Mediaite reported that Gibson was arrested in December for violating a protection order and using threatening language with his wife. He said the incident stemmed from a tense argument with his wife’s new boyfriend.

Payne and Gibson grabbed headlines in 2023 when Payne was running for office, and videos the couple had posted on the porn site Chaturbate were discovered and exposed.

The couple was accused of making the videos for “tips,” though they denied that the videos were for profit. At the time, Payne said she was determined to stay in the race.

“My political opponents and their Republican allies have proven they’re willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because there’s no line they won’t cross to silence women when they speak up,” she said.

DOJ Slams Alleged DC Pipe Bomber’s Bid To Claim Trump Pardon

Tyler Merbler, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The Justice Department is forcefully pushing back against a striking legal claim from the man accused of planting pipe bombs in Washington, D.C., on the eve of Jan. 6 — that he was effectively pardoned by President Trump.

In a court filing Friday, prosecutors urged a federal judge to reject Brian Cole Jr.’s attempt to have his charges thrown out, calling his argument flatly incompatible with the “clear and unambiguous terms” of Trump’s sweeping Jan. 6 clemency order.

Cole, who was arrested in December 2025 after years of investigation, is accused of placing two pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters on Jan. 5, 2021 — just hours before rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

The devices never detonated, but the FBI has said they were functional and viable, raising the stakes of a case that remained unsolved for nearly five years.

Earlier this year, Cole’s lawyers made a bold move: They argued that his actions were “inextricably and demonstrably tethered” to the events of Jan. 6 — and therefore covered by Trump’s mass pardon of people tied to the attack.

They pointed to the broad language in Trump’s order, which applies to offenses “related to” events at or near the Capitol, and noted that Cole allegedly traveled to Washington for an election protest tied to the same political moment that fueled the riot.

But the Justice Department isn’t buying it.

“The defendant ignores that the proclamation expressly limited relief to individuals who had been ‘convicted of,’ or had a ‘pending indictment’ for, offenses related to the events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro wrote.

That distinction, prosecutors argue, is decisive.

When Trump’s pardon took effect on Jan. 20, 2025, Cole had not yet been charged — putting him outside the scope of the order entirely.

“The defendant belonged to neither category, and so the proclamation has no bearing on this case,” Pirro wrote.

Cole was indicted weeks later, in January 2026, on charges including interstate transportation of explosives and malicious attempt to use them.

Prosecutors also made clear that even a broader reading of the pardon wouldn’t help him.

“Even if the Court somehow found, notwithstanding its text, that the proclamation could apply to this case,” Pirro wrote, the Justice Department’s interpretation should still prevail as a “consistent, reasonable” reading by the agency tasked with enforcing it.

The clash sets up a high-stakes test of how far Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons can stretch — and whether conduct that happened before the riot, but is arguably connected to it, can fall under their umbrella.

For now, the Justice Department’s position is blunt: Not this case. Not this defendant.

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Doug Emhoff Hit With Explosive Allegations From Fed-Up Ex

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Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

New York, NY – For the first time, a prominent New York attorney has publicly accused Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, of physically assaulting her during their relationship. The allegations, shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, come just 11 days before the upcoming election, creating potential complications for the Harris campaign.

According to the ex-girlfriend, Emhoff slapped her across the face at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival in the French Riviera, causing her to spin around from the impact. The incident allegedly took place while the couple was in a valet line, with Emhoff becoming jealous as she spoke with another man. Her account is corroborated by three sources close to her, who initially spoke to the Daily Mail earlier this month:

Emhoff’s accuser, who DailyMail.com is naming only as ‘Jane’, initially declined to comment on the record. But Emhoff’s denial, and his alleged hypocrisy by claiming to be a feminist in media interviews, finally became too much for her.

‘What’s frightening for a woman that’s been on the other end of it, is watching this completely fabricated persona being portrayed,’ Jane said.

‘He’s being held out to be the antithesis of who he actually is. And that is utterly shocking.’

In a statement to Semafor published October 3, a spokesperson said ‘this report is untrue,’ and that ‘any suggestion that he would or has ever hit a woman is false.’

“Kamala Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff slapped me in the face so hard I spun around… I’m disgusted by his fake ‘perfect spouse’ persona,” the woman told the Daily Mail. Her comments suggest a stark contrast between Emhoff’s public image as a supportive and devoted partner and the behavior she claims to have experienced during their relationship.

The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Emhoff, who has been referred to as the “wife guy” by political allies, married Harris in 2014. He has two children from a prior marriage to Kerstin Emhoff, which reportedly ended after an affair with the family’s nanny. Claims that the nanny suffered a miscarriage related to Emhoff’s actions remain unverified.

The timing of these allegations could have significant implications for the vice president’s campaign as Election Day draws near, adding a layer of controversy that could sway undecided voters.

This article originally appeared on American Liberty News. It is republished with permission.

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Man Charged With Attempted Murder After Attack Outside California ‘Trump House’

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Arrest image via Pixabay

A California man is facing attempted murder charges after a brutal daytime attack outside a well-known San Diego “Trump House” left an elderly homeowner fighting for his life and a bystander injured, according to police.

Authorities say 32-year-old Thomas Caleb Butler is accused of critically injuring the homeowner outside a residence on Buchanan Street in Escondido that has long drawn attention for its prominent displays of American flags and pro-Trump banners. The suspect, who lives nearby, is being held at the Vista Detention Facility in San Diego County.

The attack unfolded around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday when Escondido police responded to reports of an assault near East Mission Avenue and Buchanan Street. Officers arrived to find an elderly man suffering from severe injuries in the driveway area, along with a good Samaritan who had intervened and was also hurt.

Police say Butler fled the scene on foot but was located about a half-mile away shortly afterward and taken into custody.

The victim, whose name has not been released, was hospitalized in critical condition. Public records indicate the home is owned by a 69-year-old man. The property—widely referred to online as the “Trump House”—has been a familiar local landmark for years due to its extensive political signage and flags, which neighbors have both complained about and discussed online.

Video and photos from the scene show a heavy police presence, evidence markers along the street, and what appeared to be blood near the driveway between parked vehicles, including a pickup truck displaying American flags.

While investigators have not publicly detailed a motive, the case is already fueling broader concern about escalating political hostility in public spaces. Online discussions about the property in past years have included both criticism of the displays and, in some cases, explicit hostility toward the homeowner.

The incident comes amid a broader national backdrop of politically charged confrontations and violence. In recent weeks, conservative media and activist circles have pointed to the reported attack on Turning Point USA reporter Savannah Hernandez during a separate confrontation as part of a growing pattern of aggression directed at individuals associated with right-leaning political movements. (RELATED: 2 Indicted Following Assault Of Turning Point USA Journalist)

Taken together, these episodes are likely to intensify debate over whether political rhetoric and public polarization are increasingly spilling over into real-world violence. Law enforcement officials have not indicated that Butler’s alleged attack was politically motivated, and the investigation remains ongoing.

This article originally appeared on American Liberty News. Republished with permission.

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Taxpayers May Be Forced To Cover Legal Fees For NY AG Letitia James Amid Fraud Probe

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Alec Perkins from Hoboken, USA, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

New York taxpayers could soon find themselves footing the legal bill for Attorney General Letitia James as she prepares to defend herself against a federal investigation into alleged mortgage and real estate fraud. Buried in New York’s newly approved operations budget is language that opens a $10 million fund to reimburse state officials — including James — for “reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses” tied to investigations launched by the federal government after January 1, 2025.

Though the budget provision does not mention James by name, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to The New York Post that the fund was included with her case in mind. The fund could also apply to other state officials targeted by a Trump administration-led Department of Justice as it reopens investigations into political and institutional corruption.

The controversy stems from a criminal referral issued last month by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), whose director, William Pulte, accused James of falsifying mortgage documents and misrepresenting her residency status. According to the referral sent to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, James claimed a Virginia home — allegedly purchased on behalf of her niece — as her primary residence, a move that could constitute mortgage fraud.

James, who gained national prominence for her high-profile civil fraud case against Donald Trump, has come under scrutiny for what critics now call a double standard. Once the face of the “no one is above the law” mantra, she now finds herself leaning on state funds and a private legal defense to fight the allegations. A spokesperson for her office called the probe “political retribution” and vowed to fight what they characterized as a “revenge tour” orchestrated by Trump.

But Republicans are not buying the victim narrative.

“This is what corruption looks like in plain sight: political insiders rigging the system to protect their own, while hardworking families get shortchanged,” said New York GOP Chair Ed Cox. “Tish James used her office to wage partisan lawfare against her political opponents, and now New Yorkers are footing the bill for the consequences.”

Critics also slammed what they describe as a legal “bailout” hidden in plain sight. The language in the budget states that any state employee facing a federal investigation related to their duties may seek reimbursement — a clause that could be used broadly and, according to opponents, easily abused.

The legal support fund is likely to inflame already tense debates over partisanship, misuse of public resources, and institutional trust. With New York’s top law enforcement officer now potentially under federal investigation, questions will continue to mount over the ethical boundaries between public office and political warfare — and who ends up paying the price.

Government Employee Arrested After Disclosing Classified Info With FBI Agent

Authorities arrested a government employee in Virginia on Thursday over accusations he shared classified information with an officer or agent of a foreign government.

Nathan Vilas Laatsch, a 28-year-old IT specialist employed by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) since 2019, has been arrested and charged with attempting to transmit classified national defense information to a foreign government, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Laatsch, who held a Top Secret security clearance and worked in the DIA’s Insider Threat Division, was apprehended in northern Virginia after an undercover FBI operation. The investigation after the FBI received a tip that someone was offering to provide classified information to a friendly foreign government. Subsequent communications revealed that Laatsch expressed ideological disagreements with the current U.S. administration and a willingness to share sensitive materials.

Over several weeks, Laatsch engaged with an FBI agent posing as a foreign government representative. He allegedly transcribed classified information onto a notepad and, on May 1, deposited a thumb drive containing documents marked as Secret and Top Secret at a prearranged location in a northern Virginia park. The drive also included a message indicating his intent to provide a sample of the information he could access.

Following the initial drop, Laatsch communicated his desire for citizenship in the foreign country, citing concerns about the long-term trajectory of the United States. He also indicated openness to other forms of compensation. Between May 15 and May 27, he continued to transcribe and remove classified information, concealing notes in his clothing. On May 29, at another prearranged drop-off, Laatsch was arrested by the FBI upon delivering additional classified materials.

FBI Director Kash Patel emphasized the persistent risk of insider threats, stating, “The FBI remains steadfast in protecting our national security and thanks our law enforcement partners for their critical support.”

Laatsch is scheduled to appear in court in Alexandria, Virginia on Friday.