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Donald Trump’s lawyers formally asked a judge to toss Trump’s Georgia 2020 election criminal racketeering case on First Amendment grounds.
On Monday, Sadow filed court papers insisting that the allegations involved “core political speech,” telling the judge the indictment must be dismissed ahead of trial, according to The Hill.
“The First Amendment, in affording the broadest protection to political speech and discussion regarding governmental affairs, not only embraces but encourages exactly the kind of behavior under attack in this Indictment,” wrote Sadow and Jennifer Little, Trump’s other Georgia attorney.
“The Fulton County prosecutors have not identified any non-speech or non-advocacy conduct in the allegations against President Trump,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in the new filing.
“An examination of the indictment reveals why: none of the allegations relate to any non-speech or nonadvocacy conduct,” they continued. “Every charge and overt act alleged against President Trump rests on core acts of political speech and advocacy that lie at the heart of the First Amendment.”
Trump and 18 co-defendants were charged in August with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Trump and his 18 co-defendants have all pleaded not guilty to the combined 41 charges they face. The former president has also made numerous attempts to have the trial delayed, arguing his team would not be ready for trial by October.
Don’t mess with Texas.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) is sick and tired of the Biden administration’s lack of action at the U.S.-Mexico border.
In his strongest move yet to defend the border, Gov. Abbott created a new position in his administration to battle the ongoing illegal immigration crisis.
“For nearly two years, the State of Texas has taken unprecedented, historic action under Operation Lone Star in response to the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border,” said Abbott. “To continue doing what no other state in the history of our country has done to secure the border, I hired Mike Banks as the State of Texas’ first-ever Border Czar.”
“As an award-winning Border Patrol Agent, with decades of federal law enforcement and border security experience, Mike is the perfect choice to oversee Texas’ fight against the surge of illegal immigration, lethal drugs, and deadly weapons flowing into our state and nation,” Abbott continued. “I have no doubt that Mike’s strong record of leadership and wealth of experience will provide Texans—and Americans—the level of border security expertise they deserve from a proper Border Czar.”
Banks said, “Protecting our nation’s border is something I have dedicated the last 23 years of my life to, and I am very passionate about it. I look forward to strengthening our relationships with law enforcement partners and the community, leveraging all that we can to further protect our great state of Texas and the United States.”
According to The Daily Wire, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had 251,487 encounters with illegal aliens last month, the highest number ever recorded in U.S. history.
December’s numbers marked ten straight months of 200,000+ illegal alien encounters per month on the southern border.
Americans may soon know more on the inexplicable failure of seemingly every security measure in the July 13, 2024 attempt on President Donald Trump’s life, after an ethics watchdog filed a sweeping lawsuit.
The non-profit public interest law firm Judicial Watch reports it has “filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records related to security provided for the July 13, 2024, rally in Butler, PA, during which there was an assassination attempt on President Trump (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:25-cv-00704)).”
“Federal agencies need to come clean on the events that led up to the assassination attempts on President Trump,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “It is now eight months since the first attempt, and the American people have yet to receive any answers under FOIA on the failures of the Biden administration to protect President Trump.”
Judicial Watch reports the lawsuit was filed “after the agency failed to comply with a July 15, 2024, FOIA request to for:”
All records, including emails, email chains, email attachments, text messages, video or audio recordings, photographs, outlook calendars, meeting minutes, correspondence, statements, letters, memoranda, reports, briefings, presentations, notes, summaries, requests for assistance, agreements, travel records, receipts, or other form of record, regarding providing support or manpower to President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign rally that was held in Butler, PA, on July 13, 2024.
Judicial Watch notes the request “specifically sought records from the agency’s Homeland Security Investigations, which is believed to have helped provide security at the Butler event.”
“On July 13, 2024, at a campaign rally in Butler, PA, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump. After the attempt on President Trump’s life, former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas named a bipartisan panel to conduct a 45-day independent review of the planning for and actions before, during, and after the rally,” Judicial Watch reports.
Judicial Watch notes it has “an ongoing, independent investigation into the assassination attempts on President Trump,” writing:
In August 2024, Judicial Watch received Secret Service records that showed the Secret Service has made it a top priority that “diversity and inclusion is not just ‘talked about’ – but demonstrated by all employees through ‘Every Action, Every Day.’” [Emphasis in original]
Judicial Watch also uncovered records from the district attorney’s office in Butler County, PA, detailing the extensive preparation of local police for the rally at which former President Trump was shot, including sniper teams, counter assault teams and a quick response force.
In response to a separate open records request, Judicial Watch obtained bodycam footage of the July 13 assassination events from the Butler Township Police Department.
Judicial Watch reported that the FBI withheld information on a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for information about its coordination with the U.S. Secret Service regarding the July 13 Butler, PA, rally.
On July 31, Judicial Watch reported that the United States Secret Service completely denied multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for documents about the assassination attempt on former President Trump.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is getting involved in the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) ongoing leadership battle.
Gov. DeSantis endorsed former Trump campaign adviser and California attorney Harmeet Dhillon in her bid to take the RNC chairmanship away from Ronna McDaniel.
“I think we need to get some new blood in the RNC,” DeSantis told Charlie Kirk, the founder of conservative Turning Point USA, on Florida’s Voice.
“I like what Harmeet Dhillon has said about getting the RNC out of D.C. Why would you want to have your headquarters in the most Democrat city in America? It’s more Democrat than San Francisco is,” he continued, referencing a letter that Dhillon sent to RNC members about looking into regional offices while keeping their headquarters in Washington.
The Florida governor referenced the disappointing performance of Republicans in the last three election cycles as the reason for wanting a leadership change at the RNC.
“We’ve had three substandard election cycles in a row: ‘18, ‘20 and ‘22. And I would say of all three of those, ‘22 was probably the worst. Given the political environment of a very unpopular president in Biden, huge majorities of the people think the country is going in the wrong direction — that is an environment that’s tailor-made to make big gains in the House and the Senate and in state houses all across the country. And yet that didn’t happen,” DeSantis told Kirk.
DeSantis’s comments come just one day before the RNC committee members will hold a secret ballot vote for several positions, including their chairperson.
In addition to McDaniel and Dhillon, the pro-Trump MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is also running to lead the party.
The next presidential election could feature a familiar name according to former White House adviser Steve Bannon.
Bannon leaned into President Trump’s aspirations for a third term, suggesting Trump will run and win in 2028 while denying his own presidential ambitions.
“I’m a firm believer that President Trump will run and win again in 2028, so I’ve already endorsed President Trump,” Bannon told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo. “A man like this comes along once every century, if we’re lucky. We’ve got him now.”
Trump has floated the idea of running for a third presidential term a number of times despite it being unconstitutional with the 22nd Amendment, which limits politicians to two presidential terms.
Asked about his own presidential ambitions, Bannon replied, “No, and I’m a firm believer that President Trump will run and win again in 2028, so I’ve already endorsed President Trump. A man like this comes along once every century if we’re a little lucky. We’ve got him now, he’s on fire, and I’m a huge supporter. I wanna see him again in 2028.”
“You’re a smart guy. You know he’s term-limited,” replied Cuomo. “How do you think he gets another term?”
Bannon answered, “We’re working on it. I think we’ll have a couple of alternatives, let’s say that. We’ll see what the definition of term limit is.”
“So you’re talking about litigating this issue, because I don’t want people to listen to our interview and say, ‘Bannon’s cooking up an insurrection.’ You know what I mean?” asked Cuomo. “I want people to get a straight take on where your head is.”
“Chris, as you know, I’ve had greater long shots than this,” declared Bannon, who previously floated the possibility of a third Trump term in December. “We’ve had greater long shots than Trump 2028 and we’ve got a lot of stuff we’re working on there. We’re not prepared to talk about it publicly, but in a couple months I think we will be.”
Cuomo questioned, “But you are not suggesting revolution or overthrow or anything that people would condemn?”
After Bannon dodged the question, Cuomo once again pressed, “I just want to make it clear for people so that they can’t paint you as, you know, suggesting revolution. Your analogy is to ’32 and how FDR extended it?”
“We are, but I firmly believe in the revolution you’re seeing going on now, the revolution of common sense to deconstruct the administrative state,” concluded Bannon.
The would-be assassin of former President Trump was sentenced to 262 months in prison.
On Thursday, Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, a 56-year-old dual citizen of Canada and France, was selected to nearly 22 years in prison for mailing a letter containing the poison ricin in 2020 to then-President Trump and others. She pleaded guilty in January to violating biological weapons prohibitions.
In the letter, Ferrier referred to Trump as “The Ugly Tyrant Clown” and laced it with the potentially deadly ricin, saying, “If it doesn’t work, I’ll find better recipe for another poison, or I might use my gun when I’ll be able to come. Enjoy! FREE REBEL SPIRIT.”
Authorities arrested Ferrier while attempting to drive across the U.S.-Canada border while carrying a gun, a knife, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, authorities said. The letter was intercepted at a mail sorting facility in September 2020, before it could reach the White House.
In September 2020, Ferrier posted on X, then called Twitter, that someone should “please shoot [T]rump in the face.”
Ferrier told the judge that she considers herself a “peaceful and genuinely kind person” but admitted she gets angry about problems like unfairness, abuses of power and “stupid rules.” She also said she considers herself to be an “activist” rather than a “terrorist.”
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich handed down the 262-month sentence outlined in a plea agreement with prosecutors, which also would expel Ferrier from the U.S. once she is released from prison. She will be required to be under supervised release for life, if she ever returns.
Prosecutor Michael Friedman called the sentence an “appropriately harsh punishment” that sends a clear message.
“There is absolutely no place for politically motivated violence in the United States of America,” he said. “There is no excuse for threatening public officials or targeting our public servants.”
House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik was the bearer of bad news this week.
Stefanik (N.Y.) announced she is revoking her endorsement of former Ohio state lawmaker Crag Riedel’s bid for Congress over his reported criticism of former President Trump.
“Earlier this week, I informed Craig Riedel (OH-09) that I will be withdrawing my endorsement. I was very disappointed in his inappropriate comments regarding President Trump, Stefanik wrote Thursday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “As we begin 2024, my focus is on ensuring we nominate the strongest candidates on the ballot who are committed to electing President Trump this November and expanding our House GOP Majority.”
Riedel came under fire last month after leaked audio showed the Ohio lawmaker was not interested in Trump’s support.
In the audio, first obtained by the Charlie Kirk Show, Riedel was asked, “You’re not looking for a Trump endorsement, are you?”
“I’m not. We are not. Nope,” Riedel said.
When asked if he is “making it a point that you don’t want Trump’s endorsement,” Riedel could be heard answering “yep.”
He later goes on to say he dislikes the way Trump communicates and “calls peoples names,” and called the former president “arrogant.”
However, despite Riedel’s private comments he later chose to endorse Trump and touted his record.
Pope Francis has named Cardinal Robert McElroy, a known advocate for migrants and outspoken critic of President-elect Donald Trump, as the new Archbishop of Washington, D.C. The decision underscores the pontiff’s preference for church leaders who align with his progressive vision, even as it risks further deepening ideological divisions within the millennia-old Catholic Church.
Cardinal McElroy, recognized as a strong supporter of LGBTQ inclusion and other liberal causes, has consistently aligned with Pope Francis on key social and theological issues. His appointment was announced two weeks before Inauguration Day, conspicuous timing that drew widespread attention given the cardinal’s history of publicly criticizing Trump’s policies on immigration and social justice. This is particularly notable in light of McElroy’s emphasis on synodality (dialogue with one another in the presence of the Spirit of God) and church reform, which have drawn both praise and criticism from Catholic observers.
As Forbes’ Conor Murray reports, the move to elevate McElroy comes as a stark contrast to Trump’s nomination of Brian Burch as ambassador to Vatican City. Burch, a conservative Catholic activist and president of the right-leaning advocacy group CatholicVote, was instrumental in rallying Catholic support for Trump during the 2024 campaign. His organization has frequently clashed with the more progressive stances of Pope Francis and his allies:
McElroy has largely slammed Trump because of his views on immigration, including his promise to conduct mass deportations. McElroy was one of 12 Catholic bishops from California who co-authored a statement last month voicing support for “our migrant brothers and sisters,” acknowledging the “calls for mass deportations and raids on undocumented individuals” have created fear in migrant communities. After Trump’s first election victory in 2016, McElroy called it “unthinkable” that Catholics would “stand by while more than ten percent of our flock is ripped from our midst and deported.” He called Trump’s mass deportation plan an “act of injustice which would stain our national honor” and compared it to Japanese interment and Native American dispossession. McElroy criticized Trump’s plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy in 2017 for lacking any “shred of humanity,” stating Jesus Christ was “both a refugee and an immigrant during his journey.”
In a 2023 column for America magazine, McElroy urged greater welcoming of divorced and LGBTQ Catholics into the church, stating the church’s “disproportionate” focus on sexual activity as sin “does not lie at the heart” of a Christian’s relationship with God and “should change.” McElroy called it a “demonic mystery of the human soul why so many men and women have a profound and visceral animus toward members of the L.G.B.T. communities.” In a February 2024 speech, McElroy considered the lack of support among Catholics for blessing same-sex marriages to be the result of “enduring animus among far too many toward LGBT persons.” McElroy has also criticized abortion being considered a “de facto litmus test for determining whether a Catholic public official is a faithful Catholic.” McElroy, however, called Biden’s lack of support for anti-abortion legislation an “immense sadness” in a 2021 America magazine column, and called the overturning of Roe v. Wade a “day to give thanks and celebrate.”
Burch, founder and co-president of CatholicVote, was once a Trump skeptic but praised him in 2020 for making a “concerted effort to reach out to Catholics in a way that we haven’t seen in the past.” That year, he authored the pro-Trump book, “A New Catholic Moment: Donald Trump and the Politics of the Common Good.” Burch has slammed Francis for “progressive Catholic cheerleading” and accused him of creating “massive confusion” over his approval of blessing same-sex marriages in 2023.
Also on Monday, Francis appointed Sister Simona Brambilla, an Italian nun, to lead a Vatican office, making her the first woman to lead a major Vatican department. The department, the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, is responsible for religious orders. Francis has long voiced support for greater roles for women in the church, though he has ruled out ordaining women as deacons or priests.
McElroy’s appointment also highlights Pope Francis’ broader engagement with U.S. politics. In 2024, the pontiff made headlines when he urged voters to carefully consider their choices, describing the act of voting as a moral responsibility. During a press conference aboard the papal plane, Francis remarked on the complexities of American politics, advising voters to choose “the lesser evil” when faced with challenging decisions.
While the pope has criticized Trump’s hardline immigration policies, he has also expressed concern over Vice President Kamala Harris‘ unwavering support for abortion rights. Both stances, Francis noted, conflict with the Church’s teachings on the sanctity of life. “One must choose the lesser of two evils,” the pope reiterated. “Who is the lesser of two evils? That lady or that gentleman? I don’t know. Everyone with a conscience should think on this and do it.”
Despite the pontiff’s cultural influence, his impact on American politics was negligible. In the 2024 presidential election, former President Donald Trump secured a notable share of the Catholic vote, surpassing his performance in previous campaigns. According to exit polls conducted by The Washington Post, Trump won the national Catholic vote by a 15-point margin, with 56% supporting him compared to 41% for Vice President Kamala Harris.
This represents a notable shift compared to the 2020 election, where the Catholic electorate was nearly evenly split, with 50% supporting Trump and 49% favoring Joe Biden, a lifelong Catholic.
In the 2016 election, Trump secured 52% of the Catholic vote, while Hillary Clinton received 45%.
The 2024 election also saw variations within the Catholic demographic. Trump’s support among white Catholics increased, with 59% backing him compared to Harris’s 39%, a 20-point margin. This was an improvement over his 15-point lead in 2020.
Among Latino Catholics, there was a significant shift toward Trump. In 2020, Biden led this group by a substantial margin, but in 2024, Trump’s support increased notably, contributing to his overall gains among Catholic voters.
The appointment of McElroy is likely to spark further debate within the Church, where a widening schism between liberal and conservative leaders continue to grow. However, it also reflects Francis’ commitment to shaping the Church’s leadership in a way that emphasizes his vision for pastoral care and inclusivity, even at the expense of unity.
Yet, in the United States, voting trends strongly suggest that Trump’s campaign strategies—including selecting Senator JD Vance, a Catholic, as his running mate, and making explicit appeals to Catholic voters—resonated with this demographic, contributing to increased GOP support in the 2024 election and possibly beyond.
Article Published With The Permission of American Liberty News.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is facing backlash after reports surfaced that the State Department organized therapy sessions for employees distressed by President-elect Donald Trump‘s victory in the 2024 election. According to sources who spoke to The Washington Free Beacon, the Biden administration’s State Department hosted the sessions for its staff to help them cope with the emotional fallout from the election results raising concerns about professionalism and the Department’s competency.
An internal email sent out by the Department’s Bureau of Medical Services encouraged staff to attend a one-hour webinar on “managing stress during change.” The session offered “effective stress management techniques” to help participants navigate the uncertainty they felt in the wake of the election.
It then invited employees to join a discussion on how to handle their feelings about the outcome of the election. The focus of the session, according to the email, was to “provide tips and practical strategies for managing stress and maintaining your well-being.”
While the initiative was likely well-intentioned in its goal to support mental health, the idea of government workers receiving taxpayer-funded therapy to cope with a political defeat has sparked fierce criticism. Among the most vocal detractors is Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Issa called the sessions “unacceptable,” emphasizing that government employees should not expect to be “soothed” over the results of a democratic election, especially when their salaries are funded by American taxpayers.
Issa lambasted the State Department for tolerating what he described as a “personal meltdown” from its employees. In a letter to Blinken, Issa noted that the U.S. government champions free and fair elections around the world, and that it was “disturbing” to see U.S. government officials struggling to cope with the results of a legitimate, democratically held election. He went on to question the appropriateness of taxpayer-funded therapy sessions for civil servants who, according to Issa, should be able to handle political change without resorting to emotional support services.
“It is unacceptable that the Department accommodates this behavior and subsidizes it with taxpayer dollars,” Issa wrote. “The mental health of our foreign service personnel is important, but the Department has no obligation to indulge and promote the leftist political predilections of its employees and soothe their frayed nerves because of the good-faith votes of—and at the personal expense of—the American taxpayers.”
Issa’s letter raised broader concerns about the State Department’s ability to effectively carry out its duties in a time of political transition. Given the stark policy differences between the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration, Issa questioned whether the personnel involved in these therapy sessions would be able to effectively implement the policy priorities of the new president.
“The mere fact that the Department is hosting these sessions raises significant questions about the willingness of its personnel to implement the lawful policy priorities that the American people elected President Trump to pursue,” Issa wrote.
The idea that a portion of the U.S. government workforce may struggle with accepting a Trump victory—despite the fact that elections are a regular and democratic part of American life—raises questions about the professional competence and political neutrality of federal employees.
The controversy over these therapy sessions underscores a growing sense of frustration among conservatives who believe that the federal government has become too politicized, particularly in agencies like the State Department, which often take progressive stances on global issues. Critics argue that such therapy sessions are emblematic of a broader trend within the federal bureaucracy, where employees may prioritize their personal political beliefs over their professional duties to serve the American people impartially.
Article Published With The Permission of American Liberty News.
