Looking east towards 6th Avenue along north (48th Street) side of Fox News building on a snowy afternoon. [Photo Credit: Jim.henderson, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons]
Voting systems company Smartmatic is going after Fox board members.
Smartmatic subpoenaed four members of Fox Corp.’s board of directors in connection with its ongoing lawsuit against Fox News over the network’s coverage of the 2020 election.
In motions filed with the Supreme Court of New York, Smartmatic requested relevant documents from four members of Fox’s board of directors: Anne Dias, Charles Carey, Roland Hernandez and Jacques Nasser.
“Accountability and responsibility do not stop with Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch,” J. Erik Connolly, Smartmatic’s attorney on its case, said in a statement to The Washington Post, which first reported on the subpoenas. “Smartmatic plans to pursue Fox’s board members as well to determine why they allowed the company’s most valuable asset, Fox News, to spread disinformation about the 2020 election.”
Voting technology company Smartmatic subpoenaed four Fox Corporation board members on Monday as part of its $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News over its coverage of the 2020 election. https://t.co/EJdnO4lOMO
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 10, 2024
Smartmatic sued Fox for $2.7 billion after the 2020 election, arguing the network maliciously aired false information about its software being promoted by allies of former President Trump after the election.
Smartmatic’s case against the network is not expected to go to trial until 2025.
In April, Smartmatic and One America News (OAN) reached a settlement in the company’s defamation lawsuit against the conservative outlet.
“Smartmatic has resolved its litigation against OANN through a confidential settlement,” its lead attorney, Erik Connolly, confirmed to Mediaite:
The company also sued Fox News and Newsmax for airing false claims about its role in the 2020 election. Those suits are ongoing.
Despite the ongoing lawsuit against Fox News, in January a judge ruled Fox News Channel can proceed with its counterclaim. In part, because the network has yet to be found liable for defamation.
Article Published With The Permission of American Liberty News.
Amid reports that Wall Street banks have been illicitly spying on customers and reporting gun buyers to the FBI, despite no probable cause or court-issued warrants.
In response, Congressman Rep. Alex X. Mooney (R-WV) has introduced H.R. 3021, The Protecting the Second Amendment in Financial Services Act to “expressly prohibit financial institutions and credit card companies from using a merchant category code that separately categorizes gun and ammunition transactions.”
The revelation and legislation come as the FBI finds itself under fire for widespread civil rights abuses and its role in making false claims about President Donald Trump in an apparent attempt to remove a legally-elected president.
Under the latest-revealed scheme, purchases made at gun dealers were flagged with a secret code and referred to the FBI for recording and possible investigation, despite the fact the purchases were legal and no criminal activity suspected.
Some believe the scheme was an effort to get around federal laws prohibiting the federal government from assembling its own national registry of gun owners by having banks record the data – after audits of the Justice Department revealed officials had been illicitly retaining records of gun sales reported to the federal government’s National Instant Check System.
“Leftist activists have been clear that they intend to use merchant category codes to further surveil the constitutional firearm purchases of law-abiding citizens,” said Mooney.
“The only rationale to implement a new merchant category code is to appease anti-Second Amendment activists. I am unwavering in my support of the Second Amendment, and I am proud to introduce this common-sense legislation to protect it,” said Mooney.
“Merchant category codes (MCCs) are four-digit codes that enable payment processors and banks to categorize, monitor, and collect data on various types of transactions,” a statement from Mooney explains.
“On September 9, 2022, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) approved a Merchant Category Code (MCC) for firearm retailers. Amalgamated Bank, a left-wing U.S. bank, led the charge in pressuring the ISO to adopt the new MCC. The ISO rejected Amalgamated Bank’s initial July 2021 application for the new MCC but approved it on the second application for reasons that remain unclear,” the statement reads.
“Amalgamated Bank and progressive Members of Congress have been open that they intend to use this new MCC to track and report lawful firearm transactions to law enforcement under the guise of ‘suspicious activity’. In other words, this MCC is the Left’s attempt to create a backdoor gun registry to further curtail the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans.
While American Express, Mastercard, Visa, and Discover have announced a temporary pause in the implementation of this new MCC, there has been no formal request to withdraw the MCC. Legislation is needed to ensure this is never implemented,” the statement concludes.
This legislation is endorsed by the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America.
“GOA thanks Rep. Mooney for leading the fight to protect American gun owners from the anti-gun actions of the International Standards Organization. The U.S. government cannot sit idly by while a foreign entity pressures banks, payment card networks, and other American corporations to infringe on the Constitutional rights of the American people. This legislation empowers U.S. financial institutions to stand up to this foreign influence by categorically rejecting this anti-gun ‘merchant code,’” said Aidan Johnston, GOA’s Director of Federal Affairs
Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.
Special Counsel Jack Smith is asking a judge to prohibit former President Donald Trump from making “political attacks” about his federal 2020 election interference case set to go to trial in early spring.
“Through public statements, filings, and argument in hearings before the Court, the defense has attempted to inject into this case partisan political attacks and irrelevant and prejudicial issues that have no place in a jury trial,” senior assistant special counsel Molly Gaston wrote in court papers filed Wednesday.
“Although the Court can recognize these efforts for what they are and disregard them, the jury — if subjected to them — may not,” she continued. “The Court should not permit the defendant to turn the courtroom into a forum in which he propagates irrelevant disinformation, and should reject his attempt to inject politics into this proceeding.”
Prosecutors’ motion asks the court to bar Trump and his lawyers from introducing evidence that suggests he is being selectively prosecuted, that prosecutors are coordinating with the Biden administration or that foreign actors interfered in the 2020 presidential election.
It further urges U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the trial proceedings in Washington, to prohibit certain evidence related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Prosecutors are seeking to prevent Trump from placing blame on the National Guard or the D.C. mayor for the attack or from claiming undercover agents helped provoke violence.
“Allowing the defendant to introduce evidence about undercover actors would inevitably lead to confusing minitrials on collateral issues, such as the identities and intentions of the alleged undercover actors,” prosecutors wrote. “For example, it may require the Government to introduce evidence to show that people whom the defendant alleges were undercover actors actually were his vehement supporters.”
Trump is charged in the case with four federal felonies. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
The trial is currently slated for March 4, however, Trump’s appeals may interfere with the scheduled date.
Does this affect Donald Trump‘s chance of winning Georgia‘s crucial 16 electoral votes?
The disqualification of four independent and third-party presidential candidates from appearing on Georgia’s November ballot could have significant implications for Donald Trump in his quest for the state’s crucial 16 electoral votes.
A state administrative law judge ruled Monday afternoon that neither the candidates nor their electors were eligible under Georgia law, delivering a setback to their efforts. However, these decisions are not yet final.
Chief Judge Michael Malihi also determined that former independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not include his real residential address on his nomination petitions, which mirrors a recent ruling by a New York court. Kennedy announced Friday that he was leaving the race and backing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, but Kennedy has not formally withdrawn in Georgia.
Malihi handed independent candidate Cornel West a pair of mixed opinions, finding that he was eligible to run as an independent under state law but that his electors should have filed their paperwork in their own names, not the candidate’s.
The judge also concluded that the electors for Kennedy and socialist candidate Claudia De la Cruz made the same error on their paperwork.
And Malihi determined that the Green Party failed to show that their candidate Jill Stein would appear on the ballot in 20 other states, which is the threshold required under a new pathway created this year by Georgia lawmakers.
The final decision will be made by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), whose ruling could influence the dynamics of the presidential race in Georgia.
Georgia Democrats originally objected to these third-party candidates appearing on the ballot in the Peach State. Their concerns are particularly relevant, given that President Joe Biden won Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020.
A spokesperson for Raffensperger stated Monday evening that the judge’s decisions are currently under review.
Article Published With The Permission of American Liberty News.
Dan Bongino, the pro-Trump firebrand who turned frequent Fox News appearances into a job hosting a weekend show on the network is leaving the outlet.
Bongino, the host of Unfiltered and Fox Nation’s Canceled in the USA, left Fox after contract negotiations fell apart, he said Thursday. The network confirmed the departure in a statement to Forbes, which first reported the news, saying “We thank Dan for his contributions and wish him success in his future endeavors.”
Bongino announced his departure from the network on his latest podcast, telling his audience that “regretfully, last week was my last show on Fox News Channel.”
“The show ending last week was tough. It’s not some big conspiracy theory, I promise you. There’s no acrimony…We just couldn’t come to terms on an extension. That’s really it,” Bongino said. “I really enjoyed myself there. They were good for me for ten years…It’s a sad day. They did give me the opportunity to do one last show, I don’t want you to think they showed me the door. That’s one me, not on them, but I thought it was best to go this way for now.”
Fox News host Lawrence Jones will cover for Bongino this weekend, and the network will announce a permanent replacement in the coming weeks
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
The Committee on House Administration has released transcripts confirming that former President Donald Trump explicitly ordered the Pentagon to secure the U.S. Capitol ahead of Jan. 6, 2021. These transcripts, conducted by the Department of Defense (DOD) inspector general’s office, reveal that Trump gave clear directives to keep the protests around the Jan. 6 certification of the electoral vote peaceful, which were allegedly ignored by senior military leaders.
Committee on House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight Chairman Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) published the full transcripts, which include testimony from Gen. Mark Milley, the then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Milley confirmed that Trump pre-approved the use of National Guard troops or active-duty military to maintain peace in Washington, D.C., during a Jan. 3 meeting.
A press release from the Committee on House Administration shows that Trump gave senior Pentagon leadership directives, contradicting the conclusion in the IG’s report regarding the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
“Pentagon leadership prioritized concerns of optics over their duty to protect lives,” said Chairman Loudermilk. “President Trump met with senior Pentagon leaders and directed them to ensure that any events on January 6, 2021 were safe. It is very concerning that these senior Pentagon officials ignored President Trump’s guidance and misled Congressional leaders to believe they were doing their job when they were not. The DoD IG’s report is fundamentally flawed. It does not draw conclusions from the interviews they conducted but pushes a narrative to keep their hands clean. We have many questions for them, and we will continue to dig until we are satisfied the American people know the truth.”
The committee’s finding includes a full breakdown of the senior Pentagon leadership’s conscious decision to disregard Trump’s commands:
Days before January 6, 2021, President Trump met with senior Pentagon leaders urging them to do their jobs to protect lives and property. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley, recalls a conversation between the Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, and President Trump:
Milley: “The President just says, ‘Hey, look at this. There’s going to be a large amount of protestors here on the 6th, make sure that you have sufficient National Guard or Soldiers to make sure it’s a safe event.’… [POTUS said] I don’t care if you use Guard, or Soldiers, active duty Soldiers, do whatever you have to do. Just make sure it’s safe.’ [SecDef] Miller responds by saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got a plan, and we’ve got it covered.’”
On January 5, the Secretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy, placed unprecedented restrictions on DCNG Commander Major General William Walker to prevent any movement to the Capitol without Secretary McCarthy’s explicit permission on January 6 and 7.
On January 6, 2021, the outer perimeter on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol was breached by rioters at 12:53pm. The DCNG arrived five hours later. Click here to view the timeline.
Elvert Barnes, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
These transcripts prove President Trump’s senior Pentagon leaders were focused on OPTICS, instead of doing their job, as the Capitol was breached:
Miller: “There was absolutely – there is absolutely no way I was putting U.S. military forces at the Capitol, period.”
As “optics” concerns were being discussed and Secretary McCarthy claims he was ‘developing a plan’, the DCNG was ready to move, less than 2 miles from the Capitol – awaiting Secretary McCarthy’s authorization.
Walker’s General Counsel, Colonel Earl Matthews: “We were seeing the Congress of the United States being overrun, and the Guard – and the Capitol Police, the MPD, they need help. We had people at the D.C. Armory who are able to help, and they’re not moving. They’re not allowed to move.”
DCNG Command Sergeant Major Michael Brooks: “They were ready to go, and they just couldn’t understand why they were still sitting there. Literally sitting on a bus, just waiting to drive to the Capitol and do the best they could do to support Capitol Police.”
Tyler Merbler, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
At 3:04pm, Miller provided verbal approval to Secretary McCarthy for immediate deployment of the DCNG. What was Secretary McCarthy doing between receiving this approval, and 5:08pm, when the order eventually reaches the D.C. National Guard? Why didn’t he communicate this approval for a full two hours?
At 3:18pm, Secretary McCarthy told Congressional Democrat Leadership that the DC National Guard had the “green light” and “is moving”. Two hours would pass before Secretary McCarthy’s deployment order would ACTUALLY be communicated to the DCNG.
In these vital hours, the DCNG had been trying but was unable to reach Secretary McCarthy.
DCNG Adjutant General Aaron Dean: “[Walker] tried to call Secretary McCarthy three times between 2:30 and 5pm. He said, ‘I haven’t heard from him all day.‘ When he tried to call his cell phone, it went straight to voicemail.”
These revelations challenge the conclusions of the original DOD IG’s report on Jan. 6, disclosing that Trump’s orders to ensure security were deliberately disregarded by Pentagon leadership and prove he took steps to prevent violence on that day.
This article originally appeared on American Liberty News. It is republished with permission.
On Monday morning’s episode of “Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy said Trump, “a great supporter of law enforcement” should help tamp down on the rhetoric “against the FBI because the FBI was simply doing what the DOJ asked them to do.”
Co-hosts Brian Kilmeade and Ainsley Earhardt called out the FBI, echoing the widely held belief about the Bureau’s current political biases, but they also condemned any violence and threats of violence with Earhardt saying “no one is for the violence of FBI agents.”
Doocy in turn recommended that people frustrated by alleged hypocrisy between the treatment of Republicans and Democrats by federal law enforcement recognize that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland was the man behind the Mar-a-Lago search warrant. (RELATED: Judge Unseals Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant – Trump Under Criminal Investigation)
Hours after the “Fox & Friends” trio issued a call for cooler heads to prevail, former President Trump told Fox News’ Brooke Singman he “will do whatever” he can to “help the country” and bring the temperature down or “terrible things are going to happen.”
“People are so angry at what is taking place,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “Whatever we can do to help—because the temperature has to be brought down in the country. If it isn’t, terrible things are going to happen.”
Trump referenced the “years of fake witch hunts and phony Russia, Russia, Russia schemes and scams,” emphasizing that “nothing happens to those people who perpetuate that—nothing happens with them.”
He added: “And then they break into a president’s house—a sneak attack where it was totally—no one ever thought a thing like this would happen.”
Trump also said he told the DOJ he would do whatever he could to help. It is not immediately clear what kind of help Trump offered the DOJ, and the former president’s team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Before the DOJ’s warrant was unsealed, Trump used an intermediary to deliver a similar message to Attorney General Garland, saying according to a person with firsthand knowledge that “The country is on fire. What can I do to reduce the heat?”
According to Business Insider, it’s unclear if the message ever reached Garland.
The attempt to deliver the message preceded Garland’s Thursday press conference where he announced DOJ’s decision to unseal the search warrant. Trump had previously demanded the search warrant be released, even though he had a copy of it and the ability to do so himself.
Around the same time as Garland’s speech, but hours before DOJ unsealed the records, Breitbart published a leaked version of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant — including the names of the FBI agents who signed their names on the property receipts.
The version released by DOJ had all of the same information but redacted the agents’ names. The FBI is currently grappling with an “unprecedented” number of threats made against its agents.
The identity of the leaker to Breitbart, a media outlet long managed by Steve Bannon, remains unknown. Breitbart was roundly criticized for its decision to doxx the agents.
Hours later, Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, sent a push alert to its members with the article that included the unredacted search warrant.
A day later, police killed a man armed with an AR-15 and a nail gun who attempted to breach an FBI office in Cincinnati shortly after posting “Kill [the FBI] on sight” on Truth Social.
After union polling data shows Trump leading decisively among members…
In a historic decision, the Teamsters’ General Executive Board announced that the union will not be endorsing a presidential candidate in the 2024 election, following a surprising surge in support for former President Donald Trump among its membership. This marks the first time since 1996 that the influential labor union, one of the largest in the U.S., has opted not to back a candidate for the presidency.
The decision comes after internal polling revealed significant support for Trump, contrasting with the union’s past endorsements of Democratic candidates. The move reflects the diverse political views within the union’s 1.3 million members and its commitment to focusing on issues rather than party lines.
Earlier Wednesday, the Teamsters released its presidential endorsement polling data following a meeting between Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien and Vice President Kamala Harris. O’Brien emphasized the union’s commitment to a transparent endorsement process driven by its members.
“We are delivering on that promise to our members,” O’Brien said in a press release Wednesday. “Our final decision around a possible Presidential endorsement will not be made lightly, but you can be sure it will be driven directly by our diverse membership.”
Polling data shared by the union’s verified X account revealed positive results for the Trump campaign after President Joe Biden decided not to forgo reelection. A town hall straw poll initially showed President Joe Biden edging out Trump, 44.3% to 36.3%, before the incumbent president dropped out of the race. However, more recent electronic member polling, conducted from July 24 through Sept. 15, showed Trump leading with 59.6% of Teamsters’ support compared to Harris’ 34%. Additionally, a research phone poll conducted independently by Lake Research Partners from Sept. 9 to Sept. 15 showed Trump ahead with 58% support compared to Harris’ 31%.
The polling followed the major party conventions and the Sept. 10 presidential debate, which pundits widely viewed as a win for Harris. Despite her favorable debate reviews, Trump remains the preferred candidate among the overwhelming majority of Teamster respondents.
O’Brien’s meeting with Harris came at a critical time, as the union had yet to endorse a candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
Speaking about his conversation with Harris, O’Brien emphasized the union’s focus on issues important to its members and noted the political diversity within the Teamsters. “We don’t just represent registered Democrats. We represent registered Republicans and independents,” he said, adding that Harris acknowledged the union’s political diversity.
While many unions quickly endorsed the Democratic ticket, the Teamsters held out, with O’Brien making it clear that the union’s endorsement would depend on politicians’ actions rather than their party affiliation.
BREAKING: Teamsters, one of the largest labor unions in the country, just released a poll showing that an overwhelming majority of their over 1.2 MILLION members support Trump over Kamala Harris
Former Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan has confirmed he has been subpoenaed to testify before a Fulton County grand jury this month.
Duncan confirmed a CNN report on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, that was subpoenaed to testify in the grand jury probe into whether the former president and his supporters violated Georgia law with their alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.
“I can confirm this is true,” Duncan posted on X. “I will continue to share the facts as I know them around this investigation in hopes of figuring out what really happened.”
Duncan, who served as the lieutenant governor of Georgia from 2019 to 2023, has been an outspoken critic of the former president. In a post Sunday, he said, “History shows us that almost everyone associated with Trump ends up regretting it,” listing Trump’s business partners, investors and employees as examples.
History shows us that almost everyone associated with Trump ends up regretting it: Business Partners Investors Bankers Employees Friends Wives Girlfriends Cabinet Members Attorneys Republicans (in process) pic.twitter.com/AUAbhcd1sr
The yearslong investigation has focused heavily on a phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger when the former president asked him to “find” 11,780 votes to overturn President Biden’s victory in the election.
(Miami - Flórida, 09/03/2020) Presidente da República Jair Bolsonaro durante encontro com o Senador Marco Rubio..Foto: Alan Santos/PR
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) is changing his tune on Trump’s deportation plan.
“Yes,” Rubio said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, where he was asked whether he supports Trump’s plan to use the military to deport illegal immigrants from the country. “We cannot absorb 25, 30 million people who entered this country illegally. They’re here illegally, what country on earth could tolerate that?”
The comments were in stark contrast to Rubio’s previous stance on the issue, most notably as a primary rival of Trump’s in 2015. Rubio was critical of the Trump plan to round up and deport the millions of illegal immigrants living in the United States, panning the idea as “not a workable plan.”
Pushed on why his stance has changed since campaigning against Trump nearly a decade ago, the Florida Senator argued that the situation itself has changed since then.
“When I said that back in 2013 when I was involved in immigration reform, we had 11, 12 million people that had been here for longer than a decade, now we’ve had almost that number in the last three years alone,” Rubio said, noting that he believes some of those who have entered the country more recently could include “terrorists.”
Kristen Welker on Meet the Press: Do you support Trump’s deportation plan?
Marco Rubio: Yes. We cannot absorb 25–30M people who entered this country illegally!
Welker: Will you accept the election results no matter what happens?
Trump has vowed to implement a plan of mass deportation if he wins November’s election, promising last month to use the National Guard if needed to deport illegal immigrants from the country.
Rubio has been floated as a potential contender for vice president among other popular Florida Republicans such as Rep. Byron Donalds and former primary rival Gov. Ron DeSantis.
