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Santos Begs Trump For ‘Pardon, Commutation, Clemency, Whatever’

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A desperate plea…

Former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who faces more than seven years behind bars after pleading guilty to wire fraud and identity theft, is seeking clemency from President Trump.

“I’ll take a commutation, clemency, whatever the president is willing to give me,” Santos told British media personality Piers Morgan in an episode of Morgan’s YouTube show “Uncensored” on Thursday.

“Seven years and three months in prison for a first-time offender over campaign matters just screams ‘over the top,’ and I would appreciate if the president would consider,” he added.

The disgraced former lawmaker also noted he is filling out paperwork to formally seek intervention from the White House before he reports to prison in July.

By U.S. House Office of Photography – https://santos.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/santos.house.gov/files/evo-media-image/rep_santos_george_official.jpg, Public Domain,

In his interview with Morgan, Santos blasted former Biden administration Attorney General Merrick Garland, whom Trump and other conservative allies have criticized and accused of weaponizing the Department of Justice against the president and his allies.

“I do believe this is an unfair judgment handed down to me,” he said Thursday. “I think there was a lot of politicization over the process.”

“Merrick Garland was by far the most disgraceful and disgraced political [attorney general] to ever serve in that capacity of the United States,” Santos said.

Santos was elected to represent New York’s affluent Long Island-centered 3rd District in 2022, becoming the first openly gay Republican to win a House seat as a nonincumbent before his fall from grace. The House expelled Santos from the chamber in a 311–114 vote in 2023, as ethics charges mounted against him.

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: Pro-Trump Conservative Charlie Kirk Shot

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

Popular conservative activist Charlie Kirk was reportedly shot at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah on Wednesday.

Bystanders report seeing Kirk shot near his neck during a Q&A with students.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Appeals Court Rejects Trump Request To Stay Criminal Sentencing

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Just in…

The New York Court of Appeals has denied a motion filed by President-elect Donald Trump to stay the Jan. 10 sentencing in the New York v. Trump case.

New York Judge Juan Merchan set Trump’s sentencing date in the case earlier this month, ahead of his inauguration as president on Jan. 20. 

Trump filed a motion to stay the Jan. 10 sentencing with the New York State Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. 

The New York Court of Appeals denied Trump’s request Thursday morning. The status of his appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court is pending.

Trump remains set to be sentenced on Friday, Jan. 10, at 9:30 a.m., pending the Supreme Court’s decision. He plans to attend virtually. 

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Kari Lake’s Office In Lockdown After Receiving Suspicious Package

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Image via Pixabay images

The situation is still developing…

A campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital that an intern at the campaign’s Phoenix office opened an envelope with a suspicious substance and a note that said, “caution anthrax.” 

The campaign called authorities, prompting a response from multiple law enforcement agencies and a hazmat team. 

Authorities have not confirmed if the substance was anthrax. The campaign spokesperson said the substance is now being tested. 

“The radical left, with help from the mainstream media, has escalated its attacks against me from baseless smears and legal harassment to physical threats. Today, my office received a suspicious envelope, potentially containing anthrax — an attempt to intimidate and silence me,” Lake said in a statement. “This isn’t just about me; it’s an attack on our movement. I won’t be intimidated, and those responsible must be brought to justice. The time to unite against these dangerous, un-American tactics is now.” 

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Former NFL Kicker Dragged Out Of City Council Meeting After Calling MAGA ‘A Nazi Movement’

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Arrest image via Pixabay

Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe was removed from a California city council meeting by police after a self-described act of “civil disobedience” while attacking Donald Trump.

The reason for Kluwe’s protest revolved around a sign proposed for Huntington Beach’s public library, which would have the words “Magical,” “Alluring,” “Galvanizing” and “Adventurous” next to each other. The words spell out MAGA.

“Through hope and change our nation has built back better to the golden era of Making America Great Again!” the signage reads.

Video captured Kluwe speaking at the City Council meeting, where he criticized the MAGA movement, which is typically associated with President Donald Trump’s campaign message, “Make America Great Again.” He opined that it was “a Nazi movement.”

“I’m gonna take my time to say what MAGA has stood for these past three weeks,” said Kluwe. “MAGA stands for trying to erase trans people from existence. MAGA stands for resegregation and racism. MAGA stands for censorship and book bans. MAGA stands for firing air traffic controllers while planes are crashing. MAGA stands for firing the people overseeing our nuclear arsenal.”

“MAGA stands for firing military veterans and those serving them at the VA, including canceling research on veteran suicide,” the former punter added. “MAGA stands for cutting funds for education, including for disabled children. MAGA is profoundly corrupt, unmistakenly anti-democracy, and most importantly, MAGA is explicitly a Nazi movement.”

Kluwe then slightly elevated his voice to say, “You may have replaced a swastika with a red hat, but that is what it is.

“I will now engage in the time-honored American tradition of peaceful civil disobedience,” Kluwe said at the end of his speech to the City Council before walking up to the front where the council members were sitting. 

Video posted by HB Protect on X showed police officers quickly arresting Kluwe, who was face down on the floor with a crowd cheering behind him for his actions. The City Council’s feed cut out before Kluwe was seen rushing the council members.

He was then carried out by three police officers, two of whom holding one arm each and the other carrying the former punter’s legs. 

Kluwe was charged with disrupting an assembly. He told the Orange County Register he was released around four hours after his arrest. He said his belief was that the plaque was more “propaganda” than celebrating the library, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Watch:

Kluwe, 43, played eight years in the NFL, all for the Minnesota Vikings, from 2005-12. 

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.

Denver Mayor Could Face Removal, Jail Time Over Deportation Stance

Trump at the border wall via Wikimedia Commons

Democrat Denver Mayor Mike Johnston recently said he was prepared to break with President-elect Donald Trump’s deportation plans and Republicans are warning he will absolutely suffer the consequences.

Johnston said during a recent interview that he was prepared to protest against anything he believes is “illegal or immoral or un-American” in the city – including the use of military force.

During a Sunday morning interview on Face The Nation, Paul told anchor Margaret Brennan that Johnston’s plan is a “form of insurrection” that could see him removed from office.

BRENNAN: The stated Trump plan is to use the military or military assets, deputize the National Guard, and have them act as immigration agents. Do you believe that is lawful?

PAUL: You know, I’m 100% supportive of going after the 15,000 murderers, the 13,000 sexual assault perpetrators, rapist, all of these people. Let’s send them on their way to prison or back home to another prison. So I would say all points bulletin all in. But you don’t do it with the army because it’s illegal. And we’ve we’ve had a distrust of putting the army into our streets because the police have a difficult job. But the police understand the Fourth Amendment. They have to go to judges. They have to get warrants. It has to be specific. And so I’m for removing these people. But I would do it through the normal process of domestic policing.

Now, I would say that the mayor of Denver, if he’s going to resist federal law, which there’s a long standing, standing history of the supremacy of federal law, he’s going to resist that. It will go all the way to the Supreme Court. And I would suspect that he would be removed from office. I don’t know whether or not that would be a criminal prosecution for someone resisting federal law. But he will lose. And people need to realize that what he is offering is a form of insurrection where the states resist the federal government. Most people objected to that and rejected that long ago. So I think the mayor of Denver is on the wrong side of history and really, I think will face legal ramifications if he doesn’t obey the federal law.

The president-elect’s pick to be the next border czar responded that he’s willing to put the Denver Mayor in jail for outright flouting Trump’s policies.

“You are absolutely breaking the law,” Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar” designate, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “All he has to do is look at Arizona v. U.S. and he would see he’s breaking the law. But, look, me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing. He’s willing to go to jail, I’m willing to put him in jail.”

Homan pointed to a statute that says it’s a “felony if you knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien from immigration authorities.”

Homan said they have to secure this country and save lives. 

“President Trump has been clear, we want to concentrate on public safety threats and national security threats. I find it hard to believe that any governor would say they don’t want public safety threats removed from their neighborhoods,” he said.

Capitol Police Arrest Democrat House Staffer

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Police image via Pixabay free images

On Monday, capitol police arrested a Congressional staffer for Rep. Joe Morelle’s (D-NY) office.

The staffer was identified in a statement as 38-year old Michael Hopkins and he was arrested for allegedly carrying ammunition, including a high-capacity magazine, into the Cannon House Office Building.

Chad Pergram, senior congressional correspondent for Fox News. posted a statement from Capitol police to X, formally Twitter:

At approximately 8:45 a.m., a House staffer entered the Cannon House Office Building and put his bag through screening. USCP officers noticed what appeared to be ammunition on the x-ray screen. After a hand search of the bag, officers found four ammunition magazines and eleven rounds of ammunition. The staffer told the officers that he forgot the ammunition was in the bag. 38-year-old Michael Hopkins was arrested, and he is facing charges for unlawful possession of ammunition, including one charge for possession of a high-capacity magazine.

Fox5 Washington reported that Hopkins “has been a guest…several times over the years,” as a Democratic strategist on their show The Hill, and posted video of the staffer on-air.

Morelle’s office also released a statement, saying they’re fully cooperating with the investigation:

This morning, our office was informed that a member of our staff was arrested by Capitol Police. We are currently gathering more information regarding the circumstances of the arrest. Our office is fully committed to cooperating with the investigation. As Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration, Congressman Morelle is devoted to ensuring a safe and secure workplace for all.

Trump Announces Plan To Seek Death Penalty For D.C. Murders

President Trump said Tuesday the federal government would seek the death penalty for murders committed in Washington, D.C.

“Anybody murders something in the capital, capital punishment,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. “Capital, capital punishment. If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, D.C., we’re going to be seeking the death penalty. And that’s a very strong preventative.”

The District of Columbia hasn’t executed anyone since 1957, after Robert Carter was convicted of fatally shooting an off-duty police officer.

CBS News reported that previously, D.C. had mandatory death sentences for first-degree murders, a policy the Supreme Court later voided in the 1972 case Furman v. Georgia when it found that the death penalty was being applied in an unconstitutionally arbitrary manner. Four years later, the high court allowed capital punishment to be reinstated with clearer sentencing guidelines. The D.C. City Council, however, abolished the death penalty in 1981. 

Washington went 12 days without a murder during the federal government’s crime crackdown, a streak broken early Tuesday with the killing of a 31-year-old man in Southeast D.C., according to the Metropolitan Police Department. 

Vice President JD Vance, a day earlier, said the capital typically averaged one murder every other day, before commending the president on saving 6-7 lives since deploying the National Guard

On his first day in office, the president signed an executive order directing the attorney general to seek the death penalty in cases involving the murder of a law enforcement officer or “a capital crime committed by an alien illegally present in this country.”