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    Former Trump Adviser, Peter Navarro, To Report To Prison Next Week

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1
    Image via Pixabay

    The walls are closing in…

    Former Trump Administration adviser Peter Navarro is scheduled to report to a Miami prison on March 19 to begin serving a four-month sentence for refusing to comply with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

    Navarro, 74, was convicted last year on two counts of contempt of Congress.

    The Hill has more:

    His lawyers wrote in a Sunday court filing that a federal appeals court should temporarily put his sentence on hold while he appeals his conviction. If that effort fails, he could become the first key Trump adviser to serve jail time over efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

    U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who oversaw Navarro’s trial, declined to allow the Trump ally to stay out of prison while the appellate process plays out.

    Navarro’s counsel had argued that the question of executive privilege, which Navarro claimed Trump invoked over any testimony to the House Jan. 6 panel, rises to that threshold.

    Navarro told the judge during his sentencing he had an “honest belief” that executive privilege had been invoked by Trump. His lawyers wrote court filings that the judge’s decision “hamstrung” Navarro’s defense by leaving open the question of whether a president can direct his subordinates not to testify before Congress. 

    After his conviction, Navarro asserted his case could reach the Supreme Court due to the questions it raises about executive privilege for high-ranking White House staff. 

    Ex-White House adviser Steve Bannon was also convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress last year and sentenced to four months in prison, but a different judge said he could remain free pending appeal.

    Report: Trump Demanding ‘Explicit Public Apology’ From Zelenskyy Before Proceeding With Ukraine Deal

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    4
    By President Of Ukraine - https://www.flickr.com/photos/165930373@N06/54169325552/, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=156221279

    President Trump has some demands…

    According to Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy, Trump is seeking public contrition from Zelensky following the chaotic Oval Office meeting between the two leaders on Friday.

    “I have been told by a senior official here that nothing’s going to happen with this minerals deal until Zelensky goes in front of cameras and makes an explicit public apology for the way that he behaved himself, behaved in the Oval Office with that meeting,” Doocy said during Monday’s edition of the Faulkner Focus.

    The president’s public comments on Truth Social, Monday, seem to track with Fox’s reporting — as he blasted Zelensky for saying that the end of the war with Russia is “very, very far away.”

    “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump wrote.

    Zelensky has signaled he believes he’s still on solid footing with the U.S. and Trump.

    In public comments earlier Monday, he declared his belief that the minerals deal can proceed without any strings attached.

    “We are not making any steps back,” Zelensky said. “This is our policy to be consistent regardless of what happened before. We are constructive if we agree that it will be signed from our side, we are ready to sign. I honestly think the United States will be ready as well. Yeah, maybe they need time to analyze some things.”

    On Monday, President Trump was asked if the deal was dead, to which he replied, “I don’t think so.”

    “It’s a great deal for us, because you know Biden very, very foolishly, stupidly, frankly, gave $300 billion…to a country to fight and to try and do things. And you know what happened? We get nothing.”

    Asked what Zelensky needed to do to restart negotiations, Trump said the Ukrainian leader needed to express more gratitude for U.S. assistance.

    “I just think he should be more appreciative, because this country has stuck with them through thick and thin,” Trump said. “We’ve given them much more than Europe, and Europe should have given more than us because as you know that’s right there.”

    On Friday, President Trump called off negotiations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to end the conflict in Ukraine after a tense Oval Office meeting in which the two leaders sparred over U.S. support for Kyiv.

    “We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure,” Trump posted on Truth Social after the meeting. 

    “It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations,” Trump continued. “I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

    Musk Trolls Trump Over Epstein Case As Feud Escalates

    By
    Patrick Houck
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    0
    UK Government, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    Détente is over…

    Elon Musk reignited his very public, and very messy, feud with President Donald Trump, announcing plans to launch a third major political party just hours after Trump signed the $3.3 trillion One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law.

    But Musk didn’t stop there.

    By early Monday, the billionaire tech mogul was back to openly mocking the president following new reporting on the Department of Justice’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s death.

    On X, the platform he owns, Musk posted a meme titled “The Official Jeffrey Epstein Pedophile Arrest Counter.” The image read “0,” with Musk captioning it:

    “What’s the time? Oh look, it’s no-one-has-been-arrested-o’clock again …”

    The DOJ and FBI concluded their joint probe into the disgraced financier’s 2019 death, reaffirming the official narrative that the child sex offender died by suicide and that there’s no evidence of a blackmail scheme or a so-called “client list.” The two-page memo, first reported by Axios late Sunday, noted that no further arrests are expected.

    According to the memo, surveillance footage revealed no unauthorized access to Epstein’s cell, aligning with the medical examiner’s determination of suicide. The administration is also releasing footage showing no movement in Epstein’s section of the jail the night of his death.

    But millions remain skeptical.

    Dr. Michael Baden — a former New York City chief medical examiner hired by Epstein’s brother — disputes the ruling. Baden said several fractures in Epstein’s neck, including to the hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage, were “extremely unusual” in suicide cases and more consistent with homicide. He also said he had never seen injuries like Epstein’s in his 50 years of investigating prison deaths.

    Despite that, the DOJ insists the matter is closed.

    Musk himself added to the speculation last month, claiming in a now-deleted tweet that Trump was implicated in the Epstein files.

    “[Trump] is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public,” Musk wrote.

    He followed with: “Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”

    Trump has vigorously denied any involvement with Epstein’s nefarious activities, insisting, “I was never on Epstein’s Plane, or at his ‘stupid’ Island.”

    Responding to Musk’s Epstein files claim, the president reposted a statement from Epstein’s former lawyer David Schoen, who insisted Epstein had “no information to hurt President Trump.”

    While Trump’s name does appear in Epstein’s flight logs, no documented evidence of impropriety has emerged. Trump has acknowledged a past friendship with Epstein, which he says ended in the mid-2000s.

    Unlike last month’s spat, Trump hit back immediately at his former ally.

    In a post Sunday, the president called Musk’s behavior “off the rails,” accusing him of becoming a “TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks.” He slammed third parties as agents of “Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS” and said the U.S. system isn’t built to accommodate them.

    “We have enough of that with the Radical Left Democrats, who have lost their confidence and their minds!” Trump wrote.

    Trump turned up the heat over the weekend, threatening to revoke Musk’s government contracts — a bold strike at the heart of his rival’s wallet.

    So far, Ghislaine Maxwell remains the only person convicted in connection with Epstein’s sex trafficking operation. She is currently serving a 20-year sentence.

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    Republican Governor Blames Jan. 6 Panel After Phone Gets Hacked

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1

    South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is furious after her personal phone number was leaked.

    The Republican Governor said her phone was hacked following the release of her and her family’s personal information, including her social security number, by the House Jan. 6 committee. 

    “Callous mishandling of personal information has real world consequences,” Noem said in a statement. “If you get such a phone call from my number, know that I had no involvement.”

    Noem said that South Dakota’s Fusion Center, a state agency that compiles criminal intelligence, has been notified of the cell phone hack.

    Noem said she also has asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Congress to investigate the leak.

    Earlier this month, The Washington Post reported nearly 2,000 Social Security numbers of former President Trump’s closest allies, including former Cabinet members and Republican governors, were disclosed in a spreadsheet that the committee posted along with a number of other records. The document has since been taken down.  

    Republican Who Voted to Impeach Trump Announces Reelection Plan

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), one of the few Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump in 2021, announced that he will not seek re-election in 2026.

    “This decision comes with no reservations or remorse, only gratitude for the tremendous opportunity to have represented my home state in Congress,” Newhouse wrote in a statement.

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

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    Trump-Era AG Says Prosecutors Likely Have ‘Very Good Evidence’ Trump Obstructed Justice

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1
    The United States Department of Justice, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    Trump Administration Attorney General William Barr said over the weekend that prosecutors likely have “very good evidence” that the former president committed obstruction of justice.

    Barr made the remarks on Easter Sunday during an interview on ABC News’ “This Week” while discussing the numerous criminal investigations into former President Donald Trump.

    Barr expressed his doubts about Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s investigation into Trump’s alleged role in a hush-money scheme. The former AG said that he believes that Democrats are trying to use the investigations to “get into the middle of the Republican primary process and turn it into a circus.”

    “And I think, ultimately, the savvy Democratic strategists know this is going to help Trump, and they want him to be the nominee because he is the weakest of the Republican candidates, the most likely to lose again to Biden,” Barr warned.

    The former AG instead said Trump’s main concern should be the investigation surrounding the classified documents recovered in Mar-A-Lago.

    The raid on Mar-a-Lago was “taken after a long period, about a year-and-a-half of trying to get the documents from him, which he had no claim to,” Barr said. “He had no claim to those documents, especially the classified documents. They belonged to the government. And so, I think he was jerking the government around. And they subpoenaed it. And they tried to jawbone him into delivering documents.”

    “But the government is investigating the extent to which games were played and there was obstruction in keeping documents from them,” he added. “And I think that’s a serious potential case. I think they probably have some very good evidence there.”

    Barr said that there is “a very good chance” that Trump will be criminally indicted in the case.

    Special Counsel Appeals Trump Classified Docs Dismissal

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

    On Wednesday, Special Counsel Jack Smith formally appealed a federal judge’s dismissal of criminal charges against former President Trump over his alleged mishandling of classified information.

    Smith’s office filed a notice saying it would appeal Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling tossing out the 40 charges Trump faced to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

    The Hill has more:

    The Trump-appointed judge on Monday ruled that Attorney General Merrick Garland did not have the authority to appoint a federal officer with the “kind of prosecutorial power wielded by Special Counsel Smith.”

    “The bottom line is this: The Appointments Clause is a critical constitutional restriction stemming from the separation of powers, and it gives to Congress a considered role in determining the propriety of vesting appointment power for inferior officers,” Cannon wrote in a 93-page ruling.  

    “The Special Counsel’s position effectively usurps that important legislative authority, transferring it to a Head of Department, and in the process threatening the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers.” 

    The ruling marked a major victory for Trump — the first time one of his four criminal cases has been dismissed entirely — and came on the heels of an attempted assassination of the former president. Trump said the dismissal should be seen as the “first step” toward “Uniting our Nation” following the failed effort to take his life, calling for his other cases to be dismissed.

    A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office said Monday that Cannon’s ruling “deviates from the uniform conclusion of all previous courts to have considered the issue that the Attorney General is statutorily authorized to appoint a Special Counsel.”

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

    Harris To Reveal VP Pick Tuesday

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Kamala Harris via Wikimedia Commons

    Kamala Harris has narrowed down her choices…

    She plans to announce her choice no later than Tuesday. Harris’ team announced that she and her running mate will then embark on a five-day trip through the seven battleground states expected to decide November’s election.

    Harris and her vice presidential pick will start Tuesday night in Philadelphia before traveling to Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday, North Carolina and Georgia on Thursday, Arizona on Friday, and Nevada on Saturday.

    Harris and her running mate will meet with voters in smaller settings like restaurants and union halls, the campaign said. They will be joined at each stop by local officials.

    “This swing will allow the Vice President and her running mate to speak directly with voters in their communities and cement the contrast between our ticket and Trump’s,” the campaign said. 

    Harris last week earned enough delegates to become the presumptive Democratic nominee, setting up a likely matchup in November against former President Trump.

    Harris spent the weekend interviewing prospective running mates, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

    Speculation is building around Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro after the mayor of Philadelphia published a video referring to Gov. Shapiro as “vice president.”

    On Friday, Mayor Cherelle Parker posted a video on her personal social media accounts encouraging Pennsylvanians to stand behind “Kamala Harris for president” and “Josh Shapiro for vice president”, days before the presumptive Democratic nominee is expected to make her official announcement.

    “I can’t think of a better partner than our governor, Josh Shapiro,” Parker said, in the video.

    The video was “accidentally posted” on Friday but had been “scheduled for Monday” after Harris made her announcement, Ernest Owens, editor-at-large for Philadelphia Magazine, wrote in a tweet. “It’s Josh Shapiro, y’all.”

    Watchdog Group Seeks To Remove Judge From Trump Case

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    1
    Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

    A group is asking the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to remove Judge Aileen Cannon from overseeing former President Trump’s classified documents case.

    The brief filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) argued Judge Cannon has taken “many efforts to undermine and derail the prosecution of this case.” The brief coincides with special counsel Jack Smith’s appeal of a ruling from Cannon that tossed the documents case entirely in determining Smith was unlawfully appointed.

    The CREW brief asks for the documents case to be reassigned to another jurist in South Florida. Smith did not make that request, but the 11th Circuit could independently determine the rare move is warranted.

    The Hill has more:

    “Even before she dismissed this case on novel and insupportable grounds that ignored both statutory authority and Supreme Court precedent, Judge Cannon’s other extraordinary rulings and sluggish administration of the case had provoked well-founded concerns that she might be biased against the Government’s case and unable to manage that case impartially,” CREW wrote in its motion to file a friend-of-the-court brief filed late Tuesday.

    The filing also cites Cannon’s “inexplicable call for jury instructions on a spurious legal defense that would have gutted the Government’s case had it ever gone to trial” after she mulled embracing arguments from Trump on jury instructions even as she failed to account for a trial date in the case.

    It also notes “Cannon’s failure over the course of one year to move the case forward in any significant way—until a one-Justice concurrence in the Supreme Court’s presidential-immunity opinion expressed approval of the novel constitutional theory that allowed her to end the case.”

    That was a nod to an off-topic footnote from Justice Clarence Thomas.

    Former Trump Lawyer Responds To Disbarment Push

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

    Former President Trump’s ex-attorney John Eastman responded to a California judge’s effort to have him disbarred over his role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election saying he’s optimistic he will win his appeal.

    Eastman said in an interview on conservative network Frank Speech on Thursday that “there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge yet” before the state Supreme Court hears his case.

    “If the law was faithfully followed, this case should have never been brought in the first place,” he said. 

    “We had a disagreement on the facts of the 2020 election. We had a disagreement on the constitutional interpretation on issues that have never been settled,” Eastman continued. “That has never been the basis of disciplinary action.”

    State Bar Judge Yvette Roland found Eastman culpable in 10 of 11 charges against him.

    “In view of the circumstances surrounding Eastman’s misconduct and balancing the aggravation and mitigation, the court recommends that Eastman be disbarred,” she wrote in a 128-page decision.

    He also revealed he has been subpoenaed as part of a civil suit brought by a group of Capitol Police officers against Trump. The officers claim Trump is responsible for Jan. 6, and they hope to elicit financial penalties for the violence they suffered in the riots.

    “I just got a subpoena served on us last week by the Capitol Police officers seeking everything, all of my communications with the president and anybody else,” he said. “They’ve completely blown through attorney-client privilege.”

    While his case is under appeal, Eastman is suspended from practicing law in California. 

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