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Attorney Predicts Bret Baier Will Step Away from Fox News Amid Scandal

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Presidential debate photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Is a major shakeup coming to Fox News?

The View co-host Sunny Hostin predicted anchor Bret Baier will likely leave Fox News due to the ongoing Dominion Voting Systems court filing.

Newly released court documents from Dominion Voting Systems‘ ongoing defamation lawsuit against Fox News show the network’s executives and prime-time lineup privately expressed doubts over former President Donald Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud after losing reelection. But perhaps the most shocking revelation was that some of them expressed fear that any fact-checkers might alienate their audience. (RELATED: Fox News Trashed Trump’s Election Fraud Claims: Court Documents)

The texts revealed some at the network questioned or flat out did not believe the election fraud conspiracy theories some guests were promoting on the network.

Hostin, who is a lawyer, called the texts “some of the most damning evidence, evidentiary texts I’ve seen in my legal career.”

“Chris Wallace, before he left, said one of the reasons he left was once they started questioning facts, questioning truth. He found that to be unsustainable,” she said. “I think the same thing will happen to Bret Baier because I —”

“Is Bret still there?” Joy Behar asked. Baier is currently at Fox News, but Hostin predicted he would go the way of Wallace.

“I can’t imagine that he’ll stay. I think they’re going to lose him,” she said.

Hostin also predicted the $1.6 billion Dominion defamation suit could end up being successful in court.

“I think it is the strongest defamation case against a media company I’ve ever seen,” she concluded.

Report: Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Trump DC Hotel Case

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Duncan Lock, Dflock, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) will hear a case on whether Democrat lawmakers should be able to sue to obtain documents related to former President Donald Trump’s former D.C. hotel.

The move by the Supreme Court comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the lawmakers’ suit could move forward, according to The Hill. The Biden administration appealed to the justices and pressured them to reverse the decision over concerns about the precedent the decision would set.

The Justice Department (DOJ) has raised concerns that the decision could open presidential administrations up to more scrutiny by Congress, even by political parties not in power.

“That decision conflicts with this Court’s precedents and contradicts historical practice stretching to the beginning of the Republic. The decision also resolves exceptionally important questions of constitutional law and threatens serious harm to all three branches of the federal government. This Court should grant certiorari and reverse,” the Justice Department wrote in its request.

Democrats have accused former president Trump of hiding a significant amount of debt during the General Services Admission’s (GSA) initial bidding process for the hotel.

The GSA, which manages federal buildings and land, awarded the lease for the Old Post Office building to Trump in 2012. Trump opened the hotel in 2016 when he was the Republican nominee for president.

Democrats also raised concerns about how Trump managed potential conflicts of interest while he served as president. Lawmakers have accused Trump of conducting business with foreign entities who stayed at the hotel while they were seeking to influence U.S. foreign policy. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

The Trump Organization sold the D.C. hotel to CGI Merchant Group and its partner Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. last year. The building which previously was the Nation’s Old Post Office will be converted to a Waldorf Astoria hotel.

Trump Has ‘No Plan’ To Testify In Grand Jury As Prosecutors Inch Toward Charges

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Former President Donald Trump seems unconcerned with Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation into his alleged involvement in the $130,000 hush payment made to former pornstar Stormy Daniels.

On Monday, Trump’s attorneys revealed the former president would not testify in the grand jury investigation into the 2016 payment.

“We have no plans on participating in that proceeding,” Trump attorney Joe Tacopina told ABC News on Monday. “Decision needs to be made still. There’s been no deadline set, so we’ll wait and see.”

The Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg has been investigating whether Trump falsified business records in connection with a $130,000 payment Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels before the 2016 election. Prosecutors allege the “hush money” was to keep her from talking about a long-denied affair.

Trump has adamantly denied the affair.

On Friday, Cohen reportedly met with prosecutors for over seven hours in the latest sign the investigation into Trump is heating up. The former Trump adviser is scheduled to testify before a grand jury on Monday. (RELATED: Michael Cohen To Testify Monday In Trump Probe)

“My goal is to tell the truth,” Cohen told reporters outside the courthouse, according to the AP.

“This is not revenge,” he added. “This is all about accountability. He needs to be held accountable for his dirty deeds.”

Last week, The New York Times reported prosecutors are getting closer to formally charging Trump.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office recently signaled to Donald J. Trump’s lawyers that he could face criminal charges for his role in the payment of hush money to a porn star, the strongest indication yet that prosecutors are nearing an indictment of the former president, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.

The prosecutors offered Mr. Trump the chance to testify next week before the grand jury that has been hearing evidence in the potential case, the people said. Such offers almost always indicate an indictment is close; it would be unusual for the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, to notify a potential defendant without ultimately seeking charges against him.

In New York, potential defendants have the right to answer questions in the grand jury before they are indicted, but they rarely testify, and Mr. Trump is likely to decline the offer. His lawyers could also meet privately with the prosecutors in hopes of fending off criminal charges.

Any case would mark the first indictment of a former American president, and could upend the 2024 presidential race in which Mr. Trump remains a leading contender. It would also elevate Mr. Bragg to the national stage, though not without risk, and a conviction in the complex case is far from assured.

Trump Organization Fined in Tax Fraud Case

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Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

On Friday, the Trump Organization was fined $1.6 million following its conviction last month for criminal tax fraud.

It was the maximum penalty former President Trump’s sprawling business organization could face for what prosecutors have described as a long-running scheme to evade taxes by providing perks to company executives.

Earlier this week, former Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to fives months in prison as well as pay nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties, and interest, and serve five years of probation for his role in the 15-year tax scheme.

As Great America News Desk previously reported:

Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, is expected to be sent to Rikers Island jail in New York after receiving his sentence for his participation in a tax fraud scheme.

Wesselberg, along with other top executives, pled guilty to running the scheme for the past 15 years where he and others received bonuses and other kickbacks designed to save the real estate company money.

On Tuesday, the CFO was sentenced to five months in jail as well as pay nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties, and interest, and serve five years of probation.

Rikers Island is one of New York’s most well-known jails and has become notorious for violence and drug use.

This story is developing. Click refresh for the latest details.

Michael Cohen Requests Judge Dismiss Trump Lawsuit

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Michael Cohen is asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit he faces from former President Trump.

The former Trump “fixer” says that Trump’s $500 million lawsuit against him is “retaliation” for his part in being a witness in Manhattan prosecutors’ criminal case against the former president.

“This suit combines the worst of Mr. Trump’s vindictive impulses. The Complaint, frivolous and scattershot, is an abusive act of pure retaliation and witness intimidation, albeit a ham-fisted one. It must be dismissed as a matter of law,” Cohen’s attorneys wrote in a court filing, according to The Hill.

“Former President Donald J. Trump has described his favorite Bible verse as ‘an eye for an eye,’ which fairly captures his long history of exacting brutal retaliation — both broadly against perceived political, professional, and personal enemies, and specifically against Defendant Michael D. Cohen. Some of this retaliatory conduct has been petty and mean-spirited; some of it is patently unlawful and includes witness tampering, obstruction, and civil rights violations. Mr. Trump often abuses the court system to this end,” Cohen’s attorneys wrote.

In the new dismissal motion, Cohen’s attorneys contended Trump’s suit must be tossed because many of Trump’s claims were brought too late, while others weren’t specific enough or did not show Trump suffered any harm.

Trump’s filed a lawsuit against Cohen last month in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The suit alleges Cohen breached a confidentiality agreement and his attorney-client relationship with the former president, among other claims. The former president’s suit takes aim at Cohen’s book, podcast, and various media appearances, claiming he maliciously worked to acquire attention and wealth at Trump’s expense. 

Trump’s lawsuit against Cohen came shortly after he was indicted in New York on 34 felony charges concerning allegations he orchestrated a plan with Cohen and National Enquirer publisher David Pecker to help squash politically damaging stories before they became public knowledge.

CNN Announces Changes to White House Correspondence Team

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CNN Headquarters via Wikimedia Commons

CNN announced some big changes to its White House coverage.

Phil Mattingly has been promoted to chief White House correspondent, the network announced on Monday, and reporter MJ Lee has been promoted to senior White House correspondent.

Per The Hill:

Mattingly began covering the White House for CNN in January 2021, and was a congressional correspondent for the outlet beforehand. Lee joined CNN’s White House team last year as well after a stint in the network’s New York bureau covering the 2020 elections.

Mattingly takes over as CNN’s chief White House reporter for Kaitlan Collins, who was earlier this fall tapped by new network boss Chris Licht to serve as a co-host of the channel’s revamped Morning show “CNN This Morning,” along with longtime prime-time host Don Lemon and daytime anchor Poppy Harlow.

CNN has implemented some big changes since Christ Licht took over as CEO and the network is still planning to make some big layoffs ahead of the holidays.

Marjorie Taylor Greene Files Articles of Impeachment

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Marjorie Taylor Greene -Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, via Wikimedia Commons

MAGA Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Tuesday introduced articles of impeachment against FBI Director Christopher Wray. 

In the articles of impeachment, obtained by Fox News Digital, Greene claims that, under Wray’s watch, he has facilitated “the development of a Federal police force to intimidate, harass, and entrap American citizens that are deemed enemies of the Biden regime.” 

Greene highlighted instances of what she regarded as abuse of the bureau’s authority. These instances included, among others, the FBI’s “unprecedented raid” on the home of former President Donald Trump on Aug. 8, 2022, and the bureau’s creation of a “terrorist threat tag” following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade earlier that summer.  

President Trump nominated Wray in 2017 after firing then-director James Comey. Wray was sworn into the FBI on Aug. 2, 2017. 

Greene’s introduction of articles of impeachment comes after Special Counsel John Durham released his final report on the FBI’s investigation of alleged collusion between Russia and Donald Trump in the 2016 campaign. The report concluded that the FBI and DOJ jumped too hastily into the investigation and relied too much on raw and unconfirmed intelligence. 

This is a breaking news story. Click refresh for the latest updates.

Tim Scott Enters 2024 White House Race

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Michael Vadon, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The 2024 Republican primary field is growing.

Popular South Carolina Senator Tim Scott has officially declared himself a candidate for the GOP nomination for president.

Scott filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Friday, ahead of an expected formal campaign launch on Monday.

Scott joins a growing primary field for the Republican presidential nomination against Trump, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, among the party’s most high-profile contenders.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is widely expected to announce his presidential campaign next week.

Other Republicans who have widely been speculated to be running but have not yet officially entered include former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu.

Fox News, Dominion Voting Systems Speak Out Over Tucker Carlson Exit

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems are pushing back on a recent report suggesting Tucker Carlson’s sudden exit from the network was part of an agreement between the parties to settle a defamation suit out of court.

On Tuesday, The Variety report quoted an anonymous source who claimed Dominion sought to deal a major blow to the network’s viewership as part of the deal and demanded Carlson be fired.

“That condition was intended to hurt Fox, and Tucker is just collateral damage,” the source told the outlet. “Dominion wanted to punish Fox, and it’s working.”

Fox and Dominion denied the source’s claim when contacted by The Hill.

“As the Fox principals who negotiated the settlement well know, Dominion made no demands about Tucker Carlson’s employment orally or in writing,” the voting systems company said. “Any claims otherwise are categorically false and a thinly veiled effort to further damage Dominion.”

“Fox should take every effort to stop these lies immediately,” they added.

Last month, Fox News reached a last-minute settlement with Dominion over the network’s coverage of then-President Trump’s voter fraud claims in the 2020 presidential election.

Details of the deal were not immediately disclosed but Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson said the settlement was reached at around $787.5 million.

In a statement, Fox News Media said the network was “pleased” to reach a settlement and that it acknowledged “the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.”

Less than a week after the historic settlement Carlson was unceremoniously fired from the network. (RELATED: Tucker Carlson Quietly Preparing for ‘War’ Against Fox News)

While Carlson remains under contract with Fox, the host has said he plans to launch a new version of his wildly popular prime-time show on Twitter, but few details have been released. (RELATED: Tucker Carlson Announces New Platform For Show)

Trump Says FBI Was After Documents That Would Exonerate Him: REPORT

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Former President of the United States Donald Trump speaking with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. [Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons]

A new report from The Daily Caller indicates that former President Trump believes the FBI was after documents that would exonerate him.

The report says that the FBI was seeking documents that Trump believes would exonerate him from Russian collusion claims.

We reported yesterday that the unit that conducted the raid was the same one involved in investigating the Trump-Russia hoax. [READ MORE: FBI Unit Investigating Trump has a Bias Problem]

Along with the Russia evidence Trump also believes that the FBI was looking for election-related evidence.

The FBI also collected passports from Trump which Trump claimed were stolen.

The passports were outside the scope of the warrant and the DOJ admitted that the FBI overstepped the authority granted to them in the search warrant.

The passports are reportedly being returned.

[READ NEXT: DOJ Admits FBI Violated Trump’s Rights]