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Trump-selected Special Master Candidate Gets Unexpected Response From DOJ

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

In a late Monday court filing, the Department of Justice said it would accept one of former President Trump’s proposed judges to be appointed special master to review the records seized during the FBI’s August raid of Mar-a-Lago.

The DOJ wrote in its court filing that it believes Raymond J. Dearie, a former federal judge in New York is well qualified for the position. The DOJ also made two recommendations for the high-profile appointment, retired federal judges Barbara S. Jones and Thomas B. Griffith.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

“Judges Jones, Griffith, and Dearie each have substantial judicial experience, during which they have presided over federal criminal and civil cases, including federal cases involving national security and privilege concerns,” the Justice Department wrote in its filing.

Despite there being a rare agreement between Trump’s team and the DOJ it’s unclear if Judge Cannon will listen to the two parties’ request.

Dearie is a former chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York who also served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. He was also among the FISA judges who signed an order approving electronic surveillance of Carter Page, a former Trump aide, as part of the FBI’s investigation into whether the 2016 Trump campaign colluded with Russia.

Trump’s team also recommended Paul Huck Jr., who served as general counsel to former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. However, the Justice Department opposed Mr. Huck because he doesn’t have similar experience to the other candidates.

The DOJ also proposed Barbara Jones, who is a retired federal judge from the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York. She served as the special master who reviewed materials seized from Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen. The retired judge once again served as special master when then-Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s New York office and home were raided.

The Justice Department’s other candidate, Thomas Griffith, is a retired judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit appointed by former President George W. Bush. He most recently served on President Biden’s commission to study changes to the Supreme Court bench.

In a Monday court filing, Trump’s legal team noted it does not trust the DOJ to accurately represent what was recovered in the classified documents.

“The Government has not proven these records remain classified. That issue is to be determined later,” Mr. Trump’s lawyers wrote in a Monday morning filing to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.

“In opposing any neutral review of the seized materials, the Government seeks to block a reasonable first step toward restoring order from chaos and increasing public confidence in the integrity of the process,” the Trump legal team said, adding that the issue “at its core is a document storage dispute.’’

In a separate filing Monday afternoon, Mr. Trump’s lawyers said they oppose the two Justice Department candidates for the special master role, and asked to explain their reasoning privately before the court to be “more respectful to the candidates.” The filing said only that they believe “there are specific reasons why those nominees are not preferred for service as Special Master in this case.”

Judge Cannon granted Trump’s request for a special master last Monday, issuing a stay on the DOJ’s investigation of the seized materials. In response, the DOJ filed a motion for an appeal to continue its review of Trump’s handling of presidential documents and classified materials.

Trump’s legal team responded and accused the DOJ of seeking to “limit the scope of any review of its investigative conduct and presuppose the outcome, at least in regard to what it deems are ‘classified records.’”

“This investigation of the 45th President of the United States is both unprecedented and misguided,” Trump’s lawyers said in the filing. “In what at its core is a document storage dispute that has spiraled out of control, the Government wrongfully seeks to criminalize the possession by the 45th President of his own Presidential and personal records.”

“The Government should therefore not be permitted to skip the process and proceed straight to a preordained conclusion,” they wrote.

Judge Cannon has not revealed when a final decision will be announced in regard to the special master appointment or if she will seriously consider any of the candidates proposed by Trump or the Justice Department.

Report: Gag Order Reinstated In Trump Fraud Trial

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Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

On Thursday, an appeals court voted to reinstate the gage order against Trump in the ongoing New York business fraud trial.

Judge Arthur Engoron imposed the gag order in October after Trump repeatedly targeted the judge and his staff in a series of online attacks, most closely focusing on his principal law clerk. (RELATED: Judge Issues Gag Order Following Trump’s Truth Social Posts)

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.

Trump and his lawyers claim the clerk acts as a “co-judge” in the case and have criticized her for passing notes and whispering with the judge during the trial. 

The Hill reports that an appeals panel denied Trump’s request to lift the order hampering his attacks on the clerk. Trump’s counsel argued in their request to eliminate the gag order that Judge Arthur Engoron’s enforcement of it “casts serious doubt” on his ability to serve as an “impartial finder of fact” overseeing Trump’s case.

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

Democrat Congresswoman and Senate Candidate Signs Nondisclosure Agreement with Chinese Company

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A Michigan Democrat congresswoman, now running for a seat in the U.S. Senate, is refusing to explain why she signed a non-disclosure agreement with a Communist Chinese “green energy” company.

Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin has refused to answer questions from the media as to why she signed a hush agreement with the Chinese corporation Gotion to hold closed-door meetings about a proposed electric vehicle battery plant the company is building in Big Rapids.

The plant is not located in her district, and it would appear there would be no sensitive information or corporate trade secrets that could be gleaned from a public tour, drawing speculation from some as to why she was there and what was discussed.

“When it was time for a Michigan voice to speak on the national security threats from the CCP emanating from companies based in the PRC and protect the State of Michigan, Congresswoman Slotkin, and her staff needed to ask for an NDA, never took a position, and said nothing,” former Michigan congressman and U.S. Ambassador Peter Hoekstra tells Fox News Digital.

Fox News reports Hoekstra and fellow former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Cella have raised the alarm on Gotion’s proposed facility and similar projects involving other Communist Chinese companies across Michigan and the United States.

“Congresswoman Slotkin is a former CIA analyst and Defense Department official who knows that state and local officials were warned by our intelligence agencies not to sign deals with PRC-based companies with ties to the CCP,” Cella tells Fox News.

Fox News reports that according to its parent company’s corporate bylaws, Gotion is required to “carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China.”

The pair are asking the Justice Department to investigate whether Gotion is engaging in illegal foreign lobbying of U.S. officials.  Under federal law, anyone lobbying a member of Congress on behalf of a foreign government or company must register with the Justice Department as a foreign agent.  It does not appear Gotion has filed such a registration.

Despite the jobs it brings to an economically-stressed area, many local residents oppose the plant, citing the company’s demand officials sign non-disclosure agreements to meet with what is essentially a Communist Chinese government agent.

“The township’s concerns have all been surrounded by the lack of information given to them to make an educated decision surrounded by NDAs signed by multiple different organizations including the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and our local economic development corporation and The Right Place which is working for Gotion to bring it here,” Penny Currie, the treasurer of Big Rapids Charter Township, tells Fox News.

“That is one of our main concerns and is why we haven’t been able to move forward with a decision of any kind,” she says.

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

FBI Searches Mike Pence’s Home Amid Document Probe

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Federal Bureau of Investigation, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

FBI agents searched former Vice President Mike Pence’s residence Friday as federal authorities continue their classified document investigation, two sources confirmed to Fox News

Local police blocked off the entrance to the Indiana residence before federal investigators arrived in a white vehicle. 

Sources claim the search was planned for days and noted Pence is not at home Friday.

Last month, Pence informed Congress that he discovered documents bearing classified markings from his time as vice president on Jan. 16.

Pence attorney Greg Jacob wrote on Jan. 18 to Acting Director Kate Dillon McClure of the White House Liaison Division National Archives and Records Administration to inform her of the papers “containing classified markings.”

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

State Elections Board Votes Unanimously On Trump Ballot Eligibility

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Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

On Tuesday, the Illinois elections board voted to keep former President Donald Trump on the state’s primary ballot.

The eight-member state board, which includes four Republicans and four Democrats, made the decision in a unanimous vote. The former president’s status in the Prairie State’s primary, which is scheduled for March 19, was unclear after a group of voters sought to keep his name off the ballot, citing the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection” clause.  

Republican board member Catherine S. McCrory made a statement before her vote, clarifying her belief that an “insurrection” took place during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. “There is no doubt in my mind that [Trump] manipulated, instigated, aided and abetted an insurrection on Jan. 6,” McCrory said. “However, having said that, it is not my place to rule on that today.” 

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a similar case from Colorado early next month.

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

Judge Sets Date For Highly Anticipated Classified Docs Trial

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Judge Aileen Cannon has set a date for the highly anticipated classified documents trial for former President Donald Trump.

Judge Cannon has set a May 2024 date for the trial into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents taken from the White House.

Despite Judge Cannon’s decision to deny Trump’s legal team’s request to indefinitely delay the matter, she disagreed with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s requested trial date of December this year.

“By conservative estimates, the amount of discovery in this case is voluminous and likely to increase in the normal course as trial approaches. And, while the Government has taken steps to organize and filter the extensive discovery, no one disagrees that Defendants need adequate time to review and evaluate it on their own accord,” Cannon wrote.

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

Trump’s Older Sister, Maryanne, Dead At 86

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Photo via Pixabay images

Former President Trump is grieving the loss of his older sister.

Maryanne Trump Barry died Monday morning at age 86.

She died at her home on the Upper East Side, in Manhattan, and the cause of death is unknown at this time, the New York Times reported.

Barry was a former federal appellate judge who retired in April 2019.

During her legal career, Barry worked as a federal prosecutor before being nominated by then-President Ronald Reagan to the Federal District Court in New Jersey in 1983. In 1999, then-President Bill Clinton appointed her to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

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

Fox News Trashed Trump’s Election Fraud Claims: Court Documents

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The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Court documents from Dominion Voting System’s ongoing defamation lawsuit against Fox News show the network’s executives and prime-time lineup privately doubted former President Donald Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud after losing reelection. However, some of them expressed fear that any fact-checkers might alienate their audience.

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In a text message to his producer, Tucker Carlson said that “Sydney Powell is lying.” Behind the scenes, News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch called Rudy Giuliani’s defense of the former president “crazy stuff.”

However, the network is adamant that it never knowingly made false claims.

Months of depositions and evidence were made public Thursday.

As The Hill reports:

Top network hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham in text messages referred to the voter fraud allegations made by Trump and his associates as “insane” while network leadership debated how rebuking those claims on the air might hurt the conservative media giant’s reputation with its viewers, according to the filing.

Correspondence and testimony from top talent and executives at the network were made public as part of an ongoing defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting System against Fox News and its parent company, seeking $1.6 Billion in damages, for what the voting software company says was Fox’s broadcasting of information about it that the network’s leaders knew were false.

At one point, Laura Ingraham’s producer messaged network management, saying her “BS” about the election would wind up giving him “a f*cking aneurysm.”

Around the same time, Tucker Carlson wanted Fox News’ prime-time hosts to pressure network execs to fire reporter Jacqui Heinrich for fact-checking Trump.

“Please get her fired,” Carlson messaged Sean Hannity. “Seriously… What the f*ck?”

Page 31 in the legal filing detailed Carlson’s request, which included concerns about FOX Corporation’s declining stock price:

In their group text thread, Carlson pointed Hannity to a tweet by Fox reporter Jacqui Heinrich. Heinrich was “fact checking” a tweet by Trump that mentioned Dominion and specifically mentioned Hannity’s and Dobbs’ broadcasts that evening discussing Dominion. Heinrich correctly fact-checked the tweet, pointing out that “top election infrastructure officials” said that “‘There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.’”

Carlson told Hannity: “Please get her fired. Seriously… What the fuck? I’m actually shocked. It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It’s measurably hurting the company The stock price is down. Not a joke.” Tucker added, I just went crazy on Meade over it. Hannity said he had “already sent to Suzanne with a really?” He then added: “I’m 3 strikes. Wallace shit debate[.] Election night a disaster[.] Now this BS? Nope. Not gonna fly. Did I mention Cavuto?”

Representatives for Fox said the messages were cherry-picked out of context, saying the case boils down to freedom of the press and freedom of speech. The network added in a statement that these are “fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v. Sullivan.”

High Profile Democrat Loses Seat to MAGA Republican in History-Making Upset

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In a shocking upset Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chairman Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney has lost his re-election battle.

The New York Democrat charged with leading the House Democrats’ re-election efforts called Republican challenger Mike Lawler to concede Wednesday morning. Maloney is the first sitting chairman of the DCCC to lose reelection in more than 40 years. 

At a press conference, Maloney said he called Republican candidate Mike Lawler and congratulated him on a “good win” in New York’s 17th Congressional District.

The Daily Beast reports:

Despite Maloney trying to brand his opponent as “MAGA Mike Lawler,” and former President Bill Clinton calling an influential rabbi in the Hudson Valley to switch his endorsement, the incumbent failed to defeat Lawler, a GOP state assemblyman.

Maloney maneuvered to run in a different district after the Empire State’s congressional map was redrawn, forcing fellow Democratic incumbent Rep. Mondaire Jones to run for a brand new district in Manhattan and Brooklyn, where he lost in the primary.

As The Daily Beast reported in October, the DCCC chairman’s messy reelection fight—which included a primary challenge to his left from state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi—was the result of a series of repercussions from Maloney’s decision to switch seats, sparking gripes within Democratic campaign circles.

This story is developing. Stay with Great America News Desk for more updates.

Report: New Fetterman Chief of Staff Co-founded Org to Push Trump-Russia Collusion Hoax

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Senator-elect John Fetterman’s (D-PA) new chief of staff helped launch an initiative to promote the since-debunked Trump-Russian collusion hoax.

According to Fox News, Adam Jentleson co-founded The Moscow Project, an initiative launched by John Podesta’s Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF) and headed by Max Bergmann, a former John Kerry speechwriter. 

The Moscow Project routinely accused the Republican president of colluding with Russia and endorsed the since-debunked Steele Dossier as credible.

On March 23, 2017, Jentleson tweeted that he was “very excited” about The Moscow Project and linked to a since-deleted copy of the infamous Steele dossier that was annotated by the project.

“If you’ve been wondering how much of the Steele dossier is backed up by fact, we annotated it here. (Hint: a lot.),” Jentleson wrote at the time.

The dossier by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele – controversially published in its raw form in 2017 by BuzzFeed News – alleged that Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election over Hillary Clinton and claimed that the Kremlin had blackmail material on the former president, including a tape of prostitutes urinating on him in a Moscow hotel.

The dossier served as the basis for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against Trump campaign aide Carter Page, and it was originally commissioned by a research firm hired by Hillary Clinton’s campaign lawyer Marc Elias. The 35-page dossier has since been repeatedly discredited and debunked, including by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s two-year investigation, which found no evidence of collusion.

“The Moscow Project helpfully annotated it for you,” Jentleson wrote of the dossier in April 2017. “Steele is former MI6 head of Russia desk.”