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    New York Judge Finds Trump In Contempt Of Gag Order – Again

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    7
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    On Monday, New York hush money trial Judge Juan Merchan found former President Donald Trump violated a gag order a 10th time.

    The latest violation prompted the sternest warning yet from Merchan who warned Trump may face jail time if he continues to violate the court order.

    Judge Juan Merchan ordered Trump to pay $1,000 for attacking jurors in his historic criminal trial, according to The Hill.

    “Defendant is hereby put on notice that if appropriate and warranted, future violations of its lawful orders will be punishable by incarceration,” Merchan wrote. 

    But the judge handed Trump a partial win, ruling that prosecutors had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump violated his gag order in three other statements.  

    Trump has criticized the order, asserting it violates his First Amendment rights to respond to political attacks as the presumptive Republican nominee becomes the first former U.S. president to face a criminal trial. 

    The gag order bars Trump from insulting witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff or the judge’s family. It doesn’t bar him from attacking the judge himself or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D)

    The judge has now found Trump breached his gag order a total of 10 times and must pay $1,000 for each violation.

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

    FBI Director Reveals New Details On Trump Shooter

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Gage Skidmore Flickr

    More details on the recent attempt on Donald Trump’s life…

    On Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray appeared before the House Judiciary Committee to provide an update on the ongoing investigation into the assassination attempt as well as the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks.

    Wray shared that 14 firearms have been recovered from the shooter’s home as well as multiple explosive devices.

    Fox News reports:

    “I would say these are relatively… crude devices themselves. But they did have the ability to be detonated remotely,” he said.

    “In addition to the two devices that we recovered out of his vehicle, there were receivers for those two explosive devices with the devices. And then on the shooter himself, when he was killed by law enforcement, he had a transmitter with him,” Wray revealed.

    “Now, I do want to add one important point here is that at the moment… it looks like because of the on on/off position on the receivers, that if he had tried to detonate those devices from the roof, it would not have worked,” Wray added. “But that doesn’t mean the explosives weren’t dangerous.”

    Wray also said: “We have recovered a drone that the shooter appears to have used. It’s being exploited and analyzed by the FBI lab. The drone was recovered in his vehicle. So at the time of the shooting the drone was in his vehicle with the controller.”

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    Wray told the House Judiciary Committee that “it appears” Crooks was flying the drone about 200 yards away from the stage area of the Trump rally around 3:50 to 4 p.m. local time on the day of the shooting. Trump was hit with gunfire at 6:11 p.m. as the campaign event was underway.

    Wray also told House lawmakers Wednesday that there are no signs Crooks had any help with the Trump assassination attempt.

    “Not at this time, but again, the investigation is ongoing,” he said about the matter.

    On Tuesday, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle announced her resignation.

    Report: Trump Voter Challenge Dismissed

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

    North Carolina’s election board has dismissed a voter’s challenge to Donald Trump’s candidacy on the state’s primary ballot.

    On Tuesday, the State Board of Elections voted 4-1 to dismiss the candidacy challenge brought by Brian Martin who argued Trump should be booted from the ballot under the 14th Amendment.

    Before the vote, general counsel to the elections board, Paul Cox, made the case against hearing the voter’s candidacy challenge and said he was “quite uncertain” as to whether the board had the authority.

    The Hill has more:

    “I do think it’s uncertain. And I think that the board has to consider whether it has the jurisdiction and authority to act,” Cox told members of the board during Tuesday’s meeting. “Obviously the board is an administrative agency that derives its authority from the law, and it must consider whether the statutes that give it authority, give it this authority.”

    “And, in reading the language of the challenge statutes, I’m quite uncertain as to whether the challenge statutes in North Carolina law contemplate a challenge to a presidential preference primary candidate,” he added.

    Siobhan Millen, the sole vote against the motion, pushed back on Cox’s arguments, asking him when a voter could bring a candidacy challenge. She argued the board was hiding behind technicalities.

    “It seems like there is an unknown as to whether the presidential primary statute controls the field or whether the challenge statute controls the field, and it’s never been litigated before. You’re uncertain, if I’m hearing you,” Millen said.

    “It’s troubling to me,” she continued. “We have a voter who’s gone to the trouble to fill out a facially very impressive challenge form and we are, to me, hiding behind a technicality by saying it doesn’t apply, that we won’t even hear it. That’s — it’s troubling.”

    The dismissal came the same day the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump should be removed from the state’s primary ballot under the 14th Amendment.

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

    NYC Mayor Eric Adams Indictment Dismissed

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    via Wikimedia Commons

    On Wednesday, a federal judge dismissed federal corruption charges against New York City mayor Eric Adams, underscoring the prosecutorial power of the Trump administration.

    In his ruling, the judge, Dale E. Ho of federal court in Manhattan, refused to allow the government to keep open the option of reinstating the charges, as the Justice Department had sought.

    The New York Times reports:

    The decision abruptly ended the long-running case weeks before it had been set for trial. It was also the culmination of a bitter clash between the prosecutors who indicted Mr. Adams and the officials at Mr. Trump’s Justice Department who killed the case.

    The fight, in which Manhattan prosecutors and Justice Department officials accused each other of ethical misconduct, left Mr. Adams deeply damaged as he faces a steep uphill climb for re-election this year.

    The Justice Department had moved to dismiss the charges against the mayor after the prosecutors who had brought the indictment refused to do so. One of the department’s highest-ranking officials offered a highly unusual justification, arguing that the case was compromising Mr. Adams’s ability to help enforce the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

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

    Maine Sec. Of State Withdraws Trump Ballot Ban

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1
    Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously sided with Donald Trump, Maine’s Secretary of State withdrew her determination that former President Trump should be blocked from the state’s ballot under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause.

    “The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that individual states lack authority to enforce Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment with respect to federal offices,” Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows wrote in a modified ruling, obtained by The Hill. “Consistent with my oath and obligation to follow the law and the Constitution, and pursuant to the Anderson decision, I hereby withdraw my determination that Mr. Trump’s primary petition is invalid.”

    “As a result of the modified ruling, votes cast for Mr. Trump in the March 5, 2024 Presidential Primary Election will be counted,” Bellows continued.

    In December, Maine became the second state to block Trump from its primary ballots.

    The decision made Bellows (D) the first state official to remove a presidential candidate via the 14th Amendment, as the Colorado decision was made by a court.

    “I do not reach this conclusion lightly. Democracy is sacred,” Bellows said at the time.

    “I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment,” she wrote. “I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.”

    Bellows wrote in a 34-page decision at the time that Trump “was aware of the tinder laid by his multi-month effort to delegitimize a democratic election, and then chose to light a match.”

    Marjorie Taylor Greene Mulls Senate Run, Being Potential Trump VP Pick

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    3
    Marjorie Taylor Greene -Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, via Wikimedia Commons

    Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is considering some big career changes.

    The MAGA firebrand is openly considering a future run for Senate after being kicked off the conservative House Freedom Caucus after a heated disagreement with Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert.

    “I haven’t made up my mind whether I will do that or not. I have a lot of things to think about,” she said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published Wednesday.

    While Green has yet to make any final decisions, former President Donald Trump has also openly pushed for Greene to run for Senate

    “Marjorie Taylor Greene, you happen to be here. Would you like to run for the Senate? I will fight like hell for you, I tell you,” he said during a Texas rally in March.

    Greene later said she hadn’t thought about it, but told NBC News that “it was so nice of him to say.”

    However, the MAGA Congresswoman hinted that she has her eye on a higher office than the Senate.

    “Am I going to be a part of President Trump’s Cabinet if he wins? Is it possible that I’ll be VP?” she said in the AJC interview. If Trump asked her to be his running mate, Greene said she’d consider it “very, very heavily.”

    Biden’s Poor Re-election Performance Sends Dems Into ‘Freakout’

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Democrats are reeling…

    According to a new Politico report citing multiple prominent Democrat strategists, advisers, and donors the Biden campaign is on the brink of a meltdown. The report described Democrats close to Joe Biden as being in “freakout” mode five months before Election Day, experiencing “a pervasive sense of fear,” where “anxiety has morphed into palpable trepidation”

    “You don’t want to be that guy who is on the record saying we’re doomed, or the campaign’s bad or Biden’s making mistakes. Nobody wants to be that guy,” said a Democratic operative in close touch with the White House and granted anonymity to speak freely.

    But Biden’s stubbornly poor polling and the stakes of the election “are creating the freakout,” he said.

    Politico noted that Trump’s April fundraising haul is also a major concern for Biden’s inner circle. April marked the first month Trump out-raised the President as Biden continues to struggle in the polls.

    One adviser to major Democratic Party donors provided a running list that has been shared with funders of nearly two dozen reasons why Biden could lose, ranging from immigration and high inflation to the president’s age, the unpopularity of Vice President Kamala Harris and the presence of third-party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

    The adviser added, “The list of why we ‘could’ win is so small I don’t even need to keep the list on my phone.”

    However, despite concerns echoing among many Democrats, Biden spokesperson Kevin Munoz offered a more optimistic tone for the Biden campaign telling Politico that “Trump’s photo-ops and PR stunts may get under the skin of some very serious D.C. people as compelling campaigning, but they will do nothing to win over the voters that will decide this election.” He also cited the hot-button issue of abortion rights as a major determining factor for voters.

    Tucker Carlson Breaks Silence After Fox News Exit

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Tucker Carlson posted a cryptic video message to his Twitter profile late Wednesday evening in his first public comments since his shocking departure from Fox News.

    During the just over two-minute message, Carlson said he had realized after “stepping outside the noise for a few days” how many “genuinely nice people there are in this country.”

    “The other thing you notice when you take a little time off is how unbelievably stupid most of the debates on television are,” he continued. “They’re completely irrelevant. They mean nothing. In five years, we won’t even remember we had them. Trust me as someone who has participated in them.”

    “Both political parties and their donors have reached consensus on what benefits them and they actively collude to shut down any conversation about it,” Carlson said in his video message. “When honest people say what’s true, calmly and without embarrassment, they become powerful. At the same time, the liars who have been trying to silence them shrink. They become weaker. That’s the iron law of the universe.”

    Carlson ended his message by suggesting that his audience, which often topped more than 3 million people each weeknight while at Fox, would soon hear from him again.

    Carlson ended his message by suggesting that his audience, which often topped more than 3 million people each weeknight while at Fox, would soon hear from him again.

    “Where can you still find Americans saying true things there aren’t many places left but there are some, and that’s enough,” Carlson said. “As long as you can hear the words, there is hope. See you soon.”

    Hillary Clinton Claims Trump Wants To ‘Kill’ Opponents

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    5
    Hillary Clinton via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    That’s extreme…

    Hillary Clinton made an extreme accusation that 2016 rival Donald Trump wants to “kill his opposition” because of his purported affinity for “strongmen” leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    The Daily Wire continues:

    “We haven’t talked much about the international arena, but, you know, his bromance with Putin,” said Clinton, who served as U.S. secretary of state and U.S. senator, during a podcast released last week.

    “And it was actually called that I think by the former prime minister of Australia, who said he saw Trump with Putin and Trump was like, you know, just gaga over Putin because Putin does what he would like to do: kill his opposition, imprison his opposition, drive, you know, journalists and others into exile, rule without any check or balance.”

    “That’s what Trump really wants,” Clinton added. “And so we have to be very conscious of how he sees the world because, in that world, he only sees strongmen leaders. He sees Putin, he sees [Chinese leader Xi Jinping], he sees Kim Jong Un in North Korea. Those are the people he is modeling himself after, and we’ve been down this road in our world history. We sure don’t want to go down that again.”

    The interview took place on the “Defending Democracy” podcast hosted by Marc Elias, who served as the lawyer who directed funding from Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and Democratic National Committee that went toward British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s now-discredited dossier that contained allegations of a conspiracy between Trump and Russia.

    Running with the “Russiagate” narrative, which allegedly was the opposite of what some U.S. intelligence information showed, Clinton said one of the reasons Putin “went after” her is “because he knew I would deal with him in an appropriate way and Trump would basically do whatever he wanted.” She added, “It’s really important to think about what could happen to our world with Trump back in the White House,” adding later that it was a “very scary prospect.”

    Justice Department Mulls Immunity Deal for Trump Adviser Kash Patel

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Ramón Colón-López and the chief of staff to Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, Kash Patel, arrive at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Jan. 14, 2021. (DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando)

    The Justice Department is reportedly seriously contemplating offering former Trump adviser Kash Patel an immunity deal in exchange for his testimony about claims that highly sensitive government documents the FBI seized from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort were declassified.

    According to sources close to the matter, the DOJ is considering the special deal because Patel was one of Trump’s appointed representatives with the National Archives and therefore could have knowledge of how Trump handled the records seized from Mar-a-Lago.

    According to The Guardian, Patel started the Trump administration by railing against the Russia investigation when he served on the House intelligence committee’s Republican staff and ended it as chief of staff to the defense secretary.

    During its August raid, the FBI seized thousands of pages of documents from the former President’s Florida residence. Throughout its investigation into whether Trump violated the Espionage Act, the DOJ has honed in on roughly 100 documents and whether they were-as Trump has claimed- declassified before leaving office.

    Trump, Patel, and other confidantes have made claims about the declassification of the documents but the former president’s legal team has yet to make the assertion in court.

    Justice Department officials are examining whether to allow federal prosecutors to seek an order from the chief US district court judge in Washington Beryl Howell granting Patel limited use immunity to compel his testimony on the declassification issue and other matters, the sources said.

    The justice department had sought testimony from Patel when he was summoned to testify before a grand jury in Washington hearing evidence about Trump’s potential mishandling of national security materials and obstruction when he appeared resisted requests for their return, one source said.

    But Patel asserted his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination to an array of questions at the 13 October appearance, the source said, though the basis for some was not clear; even if the documents were not declassified, making false public statements would probably not be a crime.

    The Justice Department is not prone to offering immunity deals because it can potentially make bringing charges against the person in the future more difficult. The approval must also come from the top echelons of the DOJ according to guidelines, and the preference for prosecutors to obtain testimony is to have defendants plead guilty and then have them offer cooperation for a reduced sentence.

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