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Judge Issues Gag Order Following Trump’s Truth Social Posts

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Gage Skidmore Flickr

New York Judge Arthur Engoron issued a limited gag order for all parties on Tuesday after Trump’s Truth Social account made a post targeting the judge’s principal clerk while she sat just feet away from him in the courtroom.

The judge issued the gag order barring Trump and any party in the case from posting or speaking publicly about members of his staff after Trump released personally identifying information about his principal clerk

The trial judge, without naming Trump, addressed the court on the matter, saying “one of the defendants” posted a “disparaging, untrue and personally-identifying post” about his staff, and though the judge ordered it deleted, it had been emailed out to “millions of other recipients.”

“Personal attacks on members of my court staff are not appropriate and I will not tolerate it under any circumstance,” Engoron said.

He added that he warned counsel off the record about the former president’s comments yesterday, but the warning went unheeded.

In a Truth Social post that went up while Trump was sitting in the courtroom Tuesday, Trump targeted Engoron’s principal law clerk — who was sitting just a few feet away — calling her “Schumer’s girlfriend,” that reposted a picture of her alongside Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a fellow New York Democrat.

It is unclear what connection, if any, Schumer has with the clerk.

Trump’s campaign on Tuesday also sent out an email shortly after the Truth Social post while the court was on a lunch break

Former House Speaker Gets Unexpected Endorsement Amid RNC Shakeup

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy delivers remarks at the 2021 Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Washington DC, December 1, 2021. USDA Forest Service photo by Tanya E. Flores.

On Tuesday night multiple outlets reported that Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Ronna McDaniel plans to step down after the South Carolina primary.

McDaniel has faced pressure from party figures who have expressed dissatisfaction with the direction of the RNC and its lack of finances heading into a 2024 general election. 

In a statement to The Hill, RNC spokesperson Keith Schipper said, “Nothing has changed. This will be decided after South Carolina.”

McDaniel has spoken with former President Trump about her resignation, according to The New York Times, which first reported on the news. They met Monday at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s home in Palm Beach, Fla. 

After reports surfaced that McDaniel may soon leave her post rumors quickly began to circulate that McCarthy could be a candidate to replace her.

In an unexpected twist, McCarthy’s known rival Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) fully endorsed the idea.

“I fully endorse Kevin McCarthy for RNC Chair. Kevin is well organized and a very high-revenue fundraiser. He will also be well-liked by the RNC Committee,” argued Gaetz. “The RNC Chair doesn’t make any policy decisions, set any agenda, or negotiate against Democrats, ever. Kevin would be terrific.”

The RNC’s fundraising dipped in 2023. The committee raised $87.2 million in 2023, but ended the year with $8 million left, according to its year-end filing with the Federal Election Commission.

Trump To Return To New York For $250M Lawsuit One Week After Bombshell Arraignment

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Donald Trump is heading back to the Big Apple.

Nearly one week after Trump was charged with 34 felony counts in part of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into alleged hush money payments the third-time White House contender is to return to New York to be deposed in a $250 million civil suit brought by state Attorney General Letitia James (D). 

“This case is complex, but it is not complicated,” Judge Arthur Engoron said last month of the civil suit. “Essentially, it all boils down to whether (Trump’s) statements of financial interest are true or false.”

AG James claims Trump and others at his Trump Organization deceived lenders and insurance companies by inflating the value of his assets in order to get loans for his real estate and resort business, then undervaluing them for tax purposes. James is seeking to recover more than $250 million in “ill-gotten gains” and to bar the Trumps from doing business in New York. Engoron has set a trial date of October 2.

James campaigned on a pledge to prosecute Trump, who she once called an “illegitimate president.” Trump has called James, who is black, a “racist in reverse.”

 “I will never be afraid to challenge this illegitimate president,” James said in a 2018 video during her successful campaign to be attorney general. “I believe that this president is incompetent. I believe that this president is ill-equipped to serve in the highest office of this land. And I believe that he is an embarrassment to all that we stand for.”

On April 5, the New York grand jury voted to indict former President Donald Trump for his alleged role in a hush money bribe to adult film star Stormy Daniels amid the 2016 presidential election in DA Alvin Bragg’s yearslong investigation into the real estate mogul.

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York opted out of charging Trump related to the Daniels payment in 2019. The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021.

On Tuesday, the former President surrendered to the Manhattan Criminal Court for his arraignment

Ronna McDaniel Faces Roadblocks Over NBC News Gig

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Ronna McDaniel via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Former Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Ronna McDaniel could already be heading for the exit…

Days after NBC News announced it had hired McDaniel as a new contributor to the network and reports of inner turmoil are already running rampant.

According to The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC president Rashida Jones “has no plans to have McDaniel on the channel,” citing “people familiar” with the controversy.

The Journal reported that there has been “internal backlash” over the hire — adding that “a number of MSNBC anchors and producers have voiced concern about McDaniel’s ties to former President Donald Trump and the RNC’s role in his efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.”

“Morning Joe” Co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski in their Monday broadcast sharply criticized the network for hiring McDaniel and called on NBC News to reconsider the decision.

“To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage. But it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier,” Brzezinski said.

“And we hope NBC will reconsider its decision. It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on ‘Morning Joe’ in her capacity as a paid contributor,” Brzezinski added.

On Friday, Carrie Budoff Brown, who leads political coverage at NBC, wrote in a memo shared with The New York Times, “It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team.”

Chuck Todd, the former host of “Meet the Press,” appeared on the Sunday morning show and blasted his network over the decision.

“There’s a reason why there are a lot of journalists at NBC News uncomfortable with this, because many of our professional dealings with the RNC over the last six years have been met with gaslighting, have been met with character assassination,” he said.

“We learned about the hiring when we read about it in the press on Friday,” Scarborough said.

“We weren’t asked our opinion of the hiring, but if we were, we would have strongly objected to it for several reasons, including, but not limited to, as lawyers might say, Ms. McDaniels’s role in Donald Trump’s fake electoral scheme, and her pressuring election officials to not certify election results while Donald Trump was on the phone,” he continued.

Report: Kari Lake To Forfeit Defense In Defamation Case

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Kari Lake speaking with supporters at a "Stand for Freedom" rally at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Scottsdale Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. [Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons]

On Tuesday, Kari Lake’s legal team moved to forfeit a defamation case against her.

According to The Hill, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer (R) sued Lake last year in his personal capacity, claiming Lake defamed him after she refused to concede her 2022 Arizona gubernatorial defeat and alleged election fraud.

The lawsuit claims Lake consistently and systemically lied about Richer’s actions as recorder, causing him to receive harassment and numerous threats to his life. Richer added that Lake claimed without evidence that he stuffed ballot boxes with 300,000 invalid votes and used his role as recorder to make the ballot unclear for voters.

“For the last seven months, I have been subjected to constant harassment, intimidation, and threats to my and my family’s lives because the defendants in this case were spreading falsehoods about me, my work, and our elections,” Richer said in a statement when the lawsuit was filed last year.

The court filing Tuesday does not contest Richer’s claims, and requests an accelerated hearing to determine damages. 

Richer held up the filing as an admission of guilt.

“Won’t defend / can’t defend,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “I’ll get my due. But not the millions of people she lied to.” 

“Not the thousands of people who donated ‘to continue the fight.’ Not the people who have gone to jail because they so strongly believed Kari’s lies,” he continued. “Those people won’t get their due.”

Lake pushed back on the filing as a rejection to participate in what she described as a “political witch hunt” and a “frivolous” lawsuit, refusing to admit culpability.

“Washington, D.C. operates on blackmail and bribes. Since they can’t blackmail or bribe me, they’ve resorted to filing a punishing lawsuit to try to stop me and bleed me dry,” she said in a video message. “They’re threatening to take everything I own. What they don’t realize is even if they leave me, my husband and children homeless and penniless, that won’t stop us.”

“By participating in this lawsuit, it would only serve to legitimize this perversion of our legal system and allow bad actors to interfere in our upcoming election,” she continued. “So I won’t be taking part.”

Former Trump Campaign Adviser Endorses DeSantis

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Despite the fact Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) hasn’t even announced his presidential campaign yet the Republican is already seeing a surge in support.

Steve Cortes, who served as a campaign adviser to former President Donald Trump, announced on Tuesday he’s endorsing DeSantis for the GOP nomination in the 2024 presidential election. 

“Governor Ron DeSantis represents the best possible option to win the presidency in 2024 and to govern as a highly capable, patriotic populist leader,” Cortes wrote in an op-ed published Tuesday. 

“I have worked as a dedicated spokesman and advocate for Donald Trump for much of the last seven years, so I do not arrive at that conclusion flippantly,” Cortes added. “But our America First movement has always been bigger and more important than any one individual, and heading into this crucial election, our activism and our votes must be guided by a clear-eyed assessment of recent failures and potential future successes.”

Next, he pushed that the Republican Party needs to start throwing its support behind candidates who actually win elections, claiming there is “no substitute for victory.” He provided examples while noting the party failed to achieve its goals in the past three election cycles. 

“Now it’s time to take that same approach for the nation,” Cortes wrote. “In Ron DeSantis, Republicans can rally to a fresh, vibrant, and optimistic agenda, one that includes electoral victory followed by disciplined and focused policy achievements.”

Cortes serves as a senior campaign advisor to Trump on both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns.

Trump and DeSantis have been labeled as the leading contenders for the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination. 

Last week, DeSantis teased a coming presidential announcement, according to The Hill. The Republican Governor originally noted that no announcement would come until after the state concluded its legislative session.

“I also understood that we had this opportunity here to be able to really, really do a lot of great stuff, and I’ve always said that we’re gonna see this through,” DeSantis said at a news conference. “What happens in the future? We’ll get on that relatively soon. You either gotta put or shut up on that as well.”

Trump Teases ‘Very Big Announcement’ on Nov. 15

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Gage Skidmore Flickr

During a Monday evening rally in Ohio, former President Trump declared he plans to make a “big announcement” next Tuesday.

“I’m going to be making a very big announcement on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla.,” Trump said toward the end of a rally near Dayton, Ohio, where he was campaigning for a host of candidates in the state, including Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance, the night before the midterm elections.

“We want nothing to distract from the importance of tomorrow,” Trump said.

Previous reports indicated Trump was eyeing Nov.14th as the potential date he would make his presidential campaign announcement.

Trump’s latest message comes amid heightened anticipation that he’s planning to announce his third presidential campaign after Republicans re-take control of Congress.

Advisers in Trump’s inner circle have expressed their expectation that Trump wait to make the announcement until after the midterms but some early rumors indicated Trump strongly considered breaking the news Monday night while campaigning for Ohio Republican candidate J.D Vance.

Last week, Kellyanne Conway discussed Trump’s 2024 plans. (READ NEXT: Kellyanne Conway Drops Major Hint on Trump’s Impending 2024 Announcement)

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1588228184746631168

Fox News Reporter Dismantles Trump Assassination Hoax

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Gage Skidmore Flickr

Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich dumped cold water on former President Trump’s recent claims Joe Biden sought to assassinate the Republican during the unprecedented raid of his Mar-a-Lago estate.

The basis for the claim is standard language in the raid’s operation order that said agents “may use deadly force only when necessary, that is, when the officer has a reasonable belief that the subject of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person.”

Trump is now reportedly fundraising on the debunked scenario.

On Wednesday night, Heinrich broke the news that the same guidance on deadly force that appeared in the Trump operations order was also in the orders for the raids on President Biden’s homes:

NEWS: FBI SEARCHES AT PRESIDENT BIDEN’S HOMES ALSO INCLUDED DEADLY FORCE POLICY (which is standard)

A person familiar with the Hur investigation confirms that the standard Department of Justice policy statement regarding the use of deadly force was also included in the operations order for the searches at President Biden’s residences in Delaware.

CONTEXT: yesterday, former President Trump suggested that the Biden administration wanted to kill him during a search of his Mar-a-Lago estate. A fundraising email read, “Joe Biden was locked & loaded ready to take me out”.

The FBI said standard protocol was followed, no additional steps were taken and there was no departure from the norm.
This news about the deadly force policy also being in place for the FBI searches at Biden’s homes underscores that point.

Judge Orders Trump and Attorney to Pay Nearly $1 Million Over ‘Bogus’ Clinton Lawsuit

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Gage Skidmore Flickr

A federal judge in Florida has ordered Donald J. Trump and one of his lawyers to pay nearly a million dollars in sanctions for filing a frivolous lawsuit against nearly three dozen of Trump’s perceived political rivals, including Hillary Clinton.

The sanctions, first reported by The New York Times, serve as a significant rebuke of the former president and add to his growing list of legal woes.

“This case should never have been brought,” U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks wrote in a 46-page ruling. “Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it. Intended for a political purpose, none of the counts of the amended complaint stated a cognizable legal claim.”

In the Thursday ruling, the judge addressed Trump’s history of using the courts as a cudgel, going back decades in his business career.

“Mr. Trump is a prolific and sophisticated litigant who is repeatedly using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries,” Judge Middlebrooks wrote. “He is the mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process, and he cannot be seen as a litigant blindly following the advice of a lawyer. He knew full well the impact of his actions.”

Judge Middlebrooks said Mr. Trump’s suit had been “brought in bad faith for an improper purpose” and had “needlessly harmed” the 31 individuals and organizations, including the Democratic National Committee, he had sued “in order to dishonestly advance a political narrative.” The judge added that Mr. Trump’s use of the courts had helped to undermine the public’s confidence in them.

“A continuing pattern of misuse of the courts by Mr. Trump and his lawyers undermines the rule of law, portrays judges as partisans and diverts resources from those who have suffered actual legal harm,” he wrote.

The judge said Trump and the lawyer who filed the case for him, Alina Habba, and her firm, Habba Madaio & Associates, are to pay $937,989.39.

Trump Signs Executive Order Dismantling Dept. of Education

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President Trump signed an executive order Thursday seeking to facilitate his longstanding goal of eliminating the Department of Education.

While the order recognizes it would take an act of Congress to completely shutter the department, Trump directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to do all she can to achieve its end.  

“Today, we take a very historic action that was 45 years in the making,” he said at a signing ceremony at the East Room of the White House that included multiple school-age children sitting at classroom desks. “I will sign an executive order to begin eliminating the federal Department of Education.” 

“The department’s useful functions […] will be preserved, fully preserved,” Trump added, referring to Pell Grants, Title I funding and programs for students with disabilities. “They’re going to be preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments.” 

“But beyond these core necessities, my administration will take all lawful steps to shut down the department. We’re going to shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible,” he added at the ceremony, which was attended by Republican lawmakers and governors including Rep. Virginia Foxx (N.C.), Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The White House said earlier Thursday the Education Department will still keep its critical functions that are mandated by Congress.

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