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Trump Bucks Judge With Courtroom Monologue

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

In the end, former President Donald Trump spoke to the court from the defense table in his civil fraud trial.

Trump’s remarks came during closing arguments, which remain ongoing.

“The facts are the financial statements are perfect, that there are no witnesses against us. The banks got all their money paid back. There were great loans,” Trump maintained, echoing remarks he has previously made in public.

Trump spoke for approximately five minutes before accusing Judge Arthur Engoron of having his own agenda.

“I certainly understand that,” the GOP front-runner persisted. “You can’t listen for more than one minute.”

At that point, Engoron told one of Trump’s lawyers to “control your client.” The judge eventually cut Trump off.

Engoron ruled on Wednesday that he wouldn’t allow Trump to speak during his attorneys’ closing arguments because he wouldn’t agree to avoid personal attacks.

NBC News further reports on the unprecedented courtroom display:

Speaking from the table sitting next to his lawyers, Trump spoke to denying all wrongdoing while Engoron quietly listened.

Trump maintained that banks “got all their money back” and “they weren’t defrauded” while repeating his call to receive damages “for what we’ve gone through.”

The former president accused James’ office of not providing one document proving her allegations of inflating his financial statements and argued that the case presents a “situation where I”m an innocent man.”

“The legal scholars looking at this case find it disgraceful,” he said, adding “this is a fraud on me.”

James is asking Engoron to fine Trump and his co-defendants over $370 million and impose a lifetime ban on Trump and two former company executives from the New York real estate industry.

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

This article was republished with permission from American Liberty News.

Police Respond To Bomb Threat Targeting Judge In Trump Fraud Trial

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Police image via Pixabay free images

Authorities in Nassau County, New York, are responding to a bomb threat at the residence of the judge presiding over Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial.

New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron received the threat this morning, hours before closing arguments are scheduled to begin.

Per ABC News:

In light of the threat, the court is adding additional security for the judge, the court official said.

Nassau County Police bomb technicians responded to Engoron’s home out of an abundance of caution. Nassau County Police notified the court system of the threat, which they say they have determined to be unfounded.

Today’s court proceedings are expected to proceed as planned.

Trump is prohibited from delivering closing remarks by Engoron after he refused to agree to the judge’s proposed conditions to limit the subject of conversation to what is permissible in a lawyer’s closing argument.

The former president is on trial for allegedly deceiving lenders.

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

This article is republished with permission from American Liberty News.

Trump Moves To Dismiss Georgia Election Interference Case

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Former President Donald Trump’s legal team has moved to dismiss the Georgia election subversion case, arguing that presidential immunity shields Trump from prosecution.

The GOP front-runner’s attorneys argue that the indictment from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charges Trump for “acts that lie at the heart of his official responsibilities as President.”

Willis charged Trump last August with 13 counts for attempting to overturn President Joe Biden’s 11,779 vote victory in Georgia. The headline-grabbing charge was a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, a law associated with the American mafia.

Willis’ case that Trump and his co-conspirators exerted pressure on Georgia election officials in public and private included testimony from 75 witnesses, from former Trump advisers and attorneys to Peach State office-holders.

As CNN reports:

Trump’s immunity claims in the Georgia case, filed on Monday as part of a motion to dismiss state-level criminal charges against the former president, are similar to those argued by his defense team in the federal election subversion case.

“The indictment in this case charges President Trump for acts that lie at the heart of his official responsibilities as President. The indictment is barred by presidential immunity and should be dismissed with prejudice,” the motion filed by Trump’s lawyer in the Georgia case reads.

Monday’s filing in the Georgia case reiterates what the former president’s lawyers have repeatedly asserted – that Trump was working in his official capacity as president when he allegedly undermined the 2020 election results and therefore has immunity.

As such, Trump’s indictment in both the Georgia and federal case are unconstitutional because presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted for “official acts” unless they are impeached and convicted by the US Senate.

Reacting to the filing, Georgia State University constitutional law professor Anthony Michael Kreis called the motion to dismiss “so meritless it borders on the comical.”

“Trump was acting as a candidate and not as president,” Kreis commented on X. “Despite using the trappings of his office to browbeat officials, nothing that Trump has been indicted for in Georgia constituted an official presidential act. Engaging in racketeering activity is not shielded by Article II.”

This article was republished with permission from American Liberty News.

Influential Conservative Network Endorses Nikki Haley

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The political network founded by the Koch brothers is endorsing Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential primary race according to a Tuesday memo.

Americans for Prosperity Action’s endorsement bolsters Haley’s campaign as Republicans get closer to the Iowa Caucuses. Haley is largely seen as the candidate most likely to topple Ron DeSantis for the No. 2 position in the primary field. Trump has so far dominated the primary field despite refusing to participate in any debates.

“In sharp contrast to recent elections that were dominated by the negative baggage of Donald Trump and in which good candidates lost races that should have been won, Nikki Haley, at the top of the ticket, would boost candidates up and down the ballot,” reads the memo from Emily Seidel, a senior adviser to Americans for Prosperity Action, who adds that Ms. Haley would win “the key independent and moderate voters that Trump has no chance to win.”

The memo goes on to say that the country “is being ripped apart by extremes on both sides,” adding: “The moment we face requires a tested leader with the governing judgment and policy experience to pull our nation back from the brink. Nikki Haley is that leader.”

The group has been committed to opposing Mr. Trump’s return as leader of the Republican Party. In a memo in February, Ms. Seidel, who also serves as the president of Americans for Prosperity, the political network’s parent group, wrote: “We need to turn the page on the past. So the best thing for the country would be to have a president in 2025 who represents a new chapter.”

In recent months, Haley’s popularity has surged among Republicans and political pundits but the endorsement from the super PAC established by David and Charles Koch could prove Haley’s campaign the push it needs. It will give her access to a direct-mail operation, field workers to knock on doors and people making phone calls to prospective voters in Iowa and beyond. The group has money to spend on television advertisements, as well.

Americans for Prosperity Action has been among the country’s largest spenders on anti-Trump material this year, buying online ads and sending mailers to voters in several states, including Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. All told, the group has spent more than $9 million in independent expenditures opposing Mr. Trump.

Report: Colorado Supreme Court To Hear Trump 14th Amendment Appeal

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

The Colorado Supreme Court will hear appeals weighing whether Donald Trump should be barred from the state’s 2024 ballot due to the 14th Amendment.

Last week, a judge ruled that former President Donald Trump must be allowed on next year’s Republican primary ballot.

Trump and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which filed the lawsuit on behalf of six Colorado voters, have both appealed the decision.

The 14th Amendment disqualification trial focused on Trump’s actions before and during the U.S. Capitol riot and whether they violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Section 3 states:

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability

Trump in his appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court said he agreed with the latter part of the ruling keeping him on the state’s ballot but is appealing on other issues.

“But the district court nonetheless made legal and factual findings wholly unsupported in the law, and these errors demand review – especially if the Petitioners in this matter also seek review of the sole dispositive issue upon which President Trump prevailed,” Trump’s attorneys wrote.

Colorado District Judge Sarah Wallace said in her ruling that that language means the 14th Amendment can’t be used to prevent Trump from appearing on the ballot, regardless of whether the then-president’s actions on Jan. 6 cleared the threshold.

Wallace ruled the presidency was not an “office … under the United States” because the 14th Amendment explicitly lists all federal elected positions, except for the presidency and vice presidency. Wallace further ruled Trump was not an “officer of the United States” in the first place, referencing other constitutional provisions that distinguish the presidency from federal officers. 

“Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, passed after the Civil War, excludes from federal or state office those who engaged in insurrection against the Constitution after previously taking an oath to support it,” CREW argued in its appeal brief. 

Jenna Ellis Takes Plea Deal In Georgia Election Case

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis became the fourth defendant to plead guilty in the Georgia election interference case on Tuesday.

According to reports from ABC News, Ellis is pleading guilty to one count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings.

Recently, defendants Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, and Scott Hall took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.

Ellis, who described herself as part of an “elite strike force team” of attorneys combating unfounded claims of election fraud, pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings.

“If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post election challenges,” a tearful Ellis told the judge.

“How do you plead to aiding and abetting false statements and writings,” Fulton County prosecutor Daysha Young asked.

“Guilty,” Ellis responded.

She was sentenced to five years of probation, 100 hours of community service and ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution and write a letter of apology to Georgia citizens.

In August, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis indicted former President Trump and 18 others for trying to overturn his 2020 defeat in Georgia.

GOP Senator Dumps Cold Water on Biden Impeachment Proceedings

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Joe Biden via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville (R) is hesitant about the impeachment proceedings against President Joe Biden…

Sen. Tuberville joined a growing group of Republicans who have expressed uncertainty over the House GOP’s impeachment inquiry. In a brutally honest assessment, the Alabama Senator said that while the Senate “couldn’t get the votes” to convict Biden in an impeachment trial but hoped the House at least would get to the truth concerning the abuse of power and corruption allegations made against the president.

“You don’t bring a vote to the floor unless you are pretty sure that you can get the amount of votes that you need,” Tuberville said on NBC’s “Meet the Press NOW.” “I know that wouldn’t make it to anywhere over here in the Senate. That probably wouldn’t even — wouldn’t even let it make it to the floor. But again, this is all up to the House. We got enough problems going on right now.”

On Tuesday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave the go-ahead to begin the impeachment process. An inquiry is the first step of the impeachment process, where evidence is gathered for the articles, or charges, of impeachment against an official. 

The allegations against Biden concern the president’s role in his son Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and whether the Biden family used Joe Biden’s public office for personal profit.

“Today, I am directing our House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,” McCarthy announced in a statement at the Capitol on Tuesday.. “This logical next step will give our committees the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public.” 

However, Tuberville says an impeachment is a waste of time unless it’s “ironclad.”

“I’m not for impeachment unless it is ironclad,” he said. “As I said about President Trump, if you’re gonna come after a former president or president, let’s not waste time. Let’s know the truth. Let’s be able to bring it out. Let the American people know.”

“We got enough problems up here right now without going through an impeachment process, but they’ll do the right thing,” he added, referring to the House. “Hopefully we just find out what’s going on and, and American people get the truth.”

Gun Safe Manufacturer Cooperates With FBI, Promised ‘Bud Light Treatment’

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FBI Headquarters Washington DC [Photo Credit: I, Aude, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons]

America’s leading manufacturer of firearms safes has been promised the “Bud Light Treatment” by social media users after the company posted to X – formerly Twitter- admitting that it allowed federal authorities to access a customer’s safe.

Payson, Utah-based gun safe manufacturer Liberty Safe issued a statement Tuesday evening noting that despite their actions, they were “committed to preserving customers’ rights, and remain unwavering in those values.”

Per Newsweek, the “safe belongs to Nathan Hughes, 34, of Arkansas, who has been charged with felony civil disorder and several misdemeanors in the January 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol. The company added that it was unaware of any details surrounding the case and that it has repeatedly denied requests for access codes when a warrant wasn’t present.”

Hughes appears to be friends with the Hodge Twins, a duo of conservative personalities who have a show on the network of conservative commentator Steven Crowder. The Hodge Twins shared a video earlier this week of the FBI raid on Hughes’ house.

Political commentator Justin Hart called the raid by the FBI “overkill”, and encouraged X users to review the FBI complaint filed against Hughes late last month and draw their own conclusions.

Amid an onslaught of social media backlash, Liberty Safe also turned off comments on the post which acknowledged their actions in complying with federal law enforcement.

Still, that didn’t keep X users from memeing the company using the likes of Bud Light and Dylan Mulvaney.

Other firearm safe manufacturers have also chimed in on the controversy, even though they have shied away from mentioning their competitors by name. Syracuse, New York-based manufacturer SecureIt Gun Storage noted in a release issued Wednesday afternoon that their safes are “not built with any override system.”

This is a developing news story. Refresh the page for the latest updates. Republished with permission from American Liberty News.

White House Press Secretary Rushes To Biden’s Defense After Doocey Asks New Provocative Question

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White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre holds a press briefing on Friday, July 30, 2021, in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Erin Scott)

“President Biden is the oldest president in U.S. history. Why does the White House staff treat him like a baby?”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre became visibly agitated after receiving that question from Fox News Correspondent Peter Doocy.

Doocy asked the provocative question in response to revelations in a new book, claiming White House staff treat the 80-year-old president “like a toddler.”

Fox News has more, including Jean-Pierre’s reaction:

“No one treats the president of the United States, the commander in chief, like a baby. That’s ridiculous. It’s a ridiculous claim,” Jean-Pierre responded.

Doocy cited an upcoming book by The Atlantic’s Franklin Foer, “The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future,” in which the author writes that Biden, after appearing to call for regime change in Russia in March 2022, “fumed to friends about how he was treated like a toddler.”

“Was John Kennedy ever babied like that?” Biden asked, according to the book.

Jean-Pierre dismissed the excerpt, arguing that books inevitably get written about every administration with “a variety of claims.”

When Jean-Pierre attempted to pivot to Biden’s trip to the upcoming G20 summit in India, Doocy brought up a Wall Street Journal Poll showing two-thirds of Democrats believe Biden is too old to run for president.

“Look, here’s what I know. Here’s what I can speak to. I can speak to that – a president who has wisdom. I can speak to a president who has experience. I can speak to a president who has done historic – has taken historic action and has delivered in historic pieces of legislation. And that’s important,” an increasingly impatient Jean-Pierre retorted.

This piece was first published in American Liberty News. Republished with permission.

Trump Campaign Breaks New Record After Famed Mugshot Release

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

By Law Officer

Former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has raised a record-breaking $7.1 million in fundraising after surrendering to the Fulton County Jail late Thursday.

Trump became the first president in U.S. history to have a mug shot taken after being processed at the jail in Atlanta, Georgia.

$4.18 million was raised on Friday alone, making it the most his campaign has ever made in a single day, according to Politico.  The campaign immediately began profiting off of merchandise and items of the mug shot and the tagline “NEVER SURRENDER.” The items include shirts, bumper stickers, posters and beverage coolers.

Politico reported that the campaign has brought in $20 million in the last three weeks as Trump got hit with a third indictment overseen by Department of Justice (DOJ) Special Counsel Jack Smith over his alleged attempt to overturn the election on January 6, 2021.

Find the original article in its entirety on Law Officer. Republished with permission.