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Report: Judge Allows Trump To Appeal Fani Willis Disqualification Ruling

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Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

On Wednesday, a Georgia judge gave Donald Trump the green light to immediately appeal the recent ruling declining to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) from overseeing the election interference case against the former President.

In a brief order issued on Wednesday, Judge Scott McAfee granted the certificate of immediate review requested by Trump and eight of his co-defendants in the sprawling racketeering case.

The Hill has more:

They are now expected to ask the Georgia Court of Appeals to take up the disqualification battle before the case goes to trial.

As the effort proceeds, however, McAfee made clear he won’t pause proceedings in his court.

“The Court intends to continue addressing the many other unrelated pending pretrial motions, regardless of whether the petition is granted within 45 days of filing, and even if any subsequent appeal is expedited by the appellate court,” McAfee wrote in his ruling.

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New York Court Tosses Trump Suit Against NYT, Niece

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

A New York court tossed former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against The New York Times, dealing a significant blow to Trump’s efforts to exact damages for the leak of his private tax returns.

New York Supreme Court Justice Robert Reed ordered Trump to pay all legal expenses, attorney fees, and other costs in the Wednesday filing. 

According to The Daily Wire, the judge said Trump’s claims against the paper “fail as a matter of constitutional law” and said the Times’ reporting was “protected First Amendment activity.”

Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, was also targeted in the lawsuit, which alleged that the Times and Mary hatched an “insidious plot” to leak the former president’s private tax records.

In his lawsuit, Trump alleged that Times reporters convinced Mary “to smuggle the records out of her attorney’s office.” The former president’s lawsuit stated that the newspaper and niece were motivated “by a personal vendetta and their desire to gain fame, notoriety, acclaim and a financial windfall and were further intended to advance their political agenda.”

The leaked tax documents were first reported by the Times in 2018 in an article titled, “Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches From His Father.” The article said that Trump benefitted enormously from his father’s wealth when the former president built his own real estate empire. The Times report said Trump participated in “dubious tax schemes,” as well as “outright fraud” to keep his fortune.

The report earned The New York Times a Pulitzer Prize in 2019 for explanatory reporting.

Trump is facing a number of legal matters. Last month, the former president was indicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records.

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Outburst Angers GOP Leaders – Was She Right?

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

ANALYSIS – Is Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga), otherwise known as MTG, a firebrand conservative who tells it how it is, or is she a loud-mouth who doesn’t know when to shut up? 

Well, as I have noted before, I think she is a bit of both.

I often agree with Greene, and she does bluntly say a lot of things that need to be said. Sometimes she just says really dumb things.

In this case, she called Joe Biden’s Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas a liar. 

Or more accurately, yelled at him that he was a liar.

She also said Democrat Congressman Eric Swalwell, from California, had a sex with a Chinese spy.

To be clear, I think Mayorkas is a liar, and a disgrace to his post, and to all Americans of Cuban heritage, such as myself. He is also a Biden puppet and a national security risk due to his actions and inactions at the border.

But sometimes it’s not what you say that matters, it’s how, and where.

And in this case, the GOP-led House Homeland Security Committee may not have been the place, and ‘liar’ may have been too blunt a term to be yelled at a cabinet secretary testifying before Congress.

She should probably save those truths for other venues. Or simply say “that isn’t true.”

So, in a rare bipartisan act, the committee formally silenced Greene, ‘taking down’ her comments, and ending her line of questioning.

“It’s pretty clear that the rules state you can’t impugn someone’s character. Identifying or calling someone a liar is unacceptable in this committee, and I make the ruling that we strike those words,” Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn) said, according to NBC News. 

And I can see his point.

But it’s a fine line, especially since MTG’s ‘liar’ outburst followed a similar line of questioning by Chairman Green where he less bluntly accused Mayorkas of lying to Congress about DHS maintaining operational control of the border. 

“Not only have you lied under oath; you just admitted your own incompetence,” Green said in an earlier round of questioning where he referenced Team Biden’s response to tackling cartels.

So it really is how you say it that makes the difference.

MTG’s comments about Swalwell however, didn’t get a Republican reprimand. And I’m glad they didn’t. 

Swalwell absolutely had a dangerous, long-term liaison with an attractive, female, suspected communist Chinese spy – Christine Fang. 

It was likely sexual in nature. And as I wrote earlier, several other Democrat politicians likely had sex with her too.

The FBI said they found no evidence Swalwell shared classified intelligence with her, but the Bureau never truly investigated the sexual relationship aspect before the spy fled back to China.

At the hearing, Swalwell showed a poster that depicted a defund-the-FBI campaign with Greene’s face on it. Greene retorted by saying his criticism was rich coming “from someone that had a sexual relationship with a Chinese spy, and everyone knows it.”

Democrats quickly moved to strike her words, arguing it violated House rules on making attacks based on personality, and MTG declined to withdraw them voluntarily.

However, in that case, Republican leaders declined as well.

Minutes later, Greene accused Mayorkas of failing to prevent the flow of fentanyl into the United States. 

“Congresswoman, let me assure you that we’re not letting it go on. We are fighting this,” Mayorkas responded. MTG then yelled: “You’re a liar! You are letting this go on, and the numbers prove it!”

And she is right. Mayorkas is letting these deadly drugs into the U.S., by the truckload.

But that second outburst sealed the deal for Republican leaders against MTG during the hearing.

In his closing remarks the Chairman said, “we do need to dial the rhetoric down in the country and apparently in the committee.” apparently in the committee.” 

That’s probably something we should all agree on.

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

Tucker Carlson Leaves Fox News

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Tucker Carlson is leaving Fox News.

“We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” the network said in a statement.

Carlson’s last show was Friday, the network said.

The Hill has more:

Fox said it would air a new program called “Fox News Tonight” at 8 p.m. starting Monday evening as an interim show helmed by rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is named.

Carlson was Fox’s top-rated prime time host, netting an average of more than 3 million viewers per night, the most of any pundit on cable.

Before the launch of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Carlson was co-host of “FOX & Friends Weekend” from 2012 through 2016. 

Carlson previously served as an MSNBC host from 2005-2008 and also appeared on CNN earlier in his career. He founded The Daily Caller in 2010, but sold his stake in the political news website in 2020. 

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Manhattan DA Responds House Republicans’ Letter on Potential trump Indictment

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The Manhattan District Attorney’s office issued a response after top House Republicans demanded that Bragg testifies to Congress on a possible indictment of former President Trump.

“We will not be intimidated by attempts to undermine the justice process, nor will we let baseless accusations deter us from fairly applying the law,” a spokesperson for Bragg’s office told Fox News Digital. 

“In every prosecution, we follow the law without fear or favor to uncover the truth. Our skilled, honest and dedicated lawyers remain hard at work,” the spokesperson added. 

Bragg’s statement comes after Republicans on the Administration and Oversight committees sent a letter to Bragg demanding that he turn over documents related to his Trump investigation and testify before Congress after reports said Trump could face an indictment this week.

Over the weekend, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R- Calif.) responded to former President Donald Trump’s social media post saying that he will be arrested this week by pledging to have congressional committees investigate whether federal funding was involved in the case out of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

“Here we go again — an outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance against President Trump,” McCarthy said on Twitter. “I’m directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions.”

Utah Republican Inches Toward Mitt Romney Senate Challenge

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Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

A prominent Utah lawmaker appears to be gearing up for a Senate bid, potentially teeing up a competitive primary challenge against incumbent Senator Mitt Romney (R).

Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson announced Thursday that he is launching an exploratory committee to consider running for Senate, according to reports from Fox News.

“I’ve really loved the opportunity that we’ve had to keep government small and out of people’s lives, it’s part of why Utah is so special,” Wilson said of his time in public office.

He continued, “I really believe that what Washington needs is to be a lot more like Utah. We’ve got this amazing opportunity to send Utah values back to D.C., and to have a conservative fighter back there, doing things back there the way we do them here in the Beehive State.” 

“I’ve been in elected office for a while. And one thing that I know is these offices don’t belong to any of us individually, they belong to the people that elect us,” Wilson said.

Wilson added, “And so my decision is going to be based on what I hear from people, what I believe is in the best interest of the state of Utah, and what is, quite frankly, in the best interest of my family.”

Romney has yet to announce if he will run for another term in the Senate but earlier this week filed preliminary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission

Romney was the GOP nominee in the 2012 presidential election and was defeated by former President Barack Obama. The Republican lawmaker has become a controversial figure within the party over the past years, frequently butting heads with then-President Donald Trump. Romney twice voted to impeach Trump.

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Judge Opts Not To Impose Gag Order In Trump Hush Money Case

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

On Tuesday, Judge Juan Merchan declined to impose a gag order on former president Donald Trump and his legal team despite the mounting speculation.

During the Tuesday afternoon arraignment, Merchan warned Trump and his team, as well as the opposing counsel, not to make social media posts that could incite violence.

Early reports indicated the judge was considering imposing the order on parties in the case which would have blocked Trump and his team from talking publicly about the trial at the risk of potentially being found in contempt of court.

Criminal defense attorney Duncan Levin, who previously served as a staffer in the Manhattan DA’s office and as a federal prosecutor, told Business Insider that it is “extremely likely” there will be a gag order.

“I think it’s not only a possibility, but it’s extremely likely that there will be a gag order in the case,” said Levin, known for representing clients including Harvey Weinstein and Anna Sorokin. “Gag orders are very common in criminal cases, particularly in cases where there is an enormous amount of pretrial publicity like this one.”

Punishment for criminal contempt, under New York law, is a fine not exceeding $1,000, jail for up to 30 days, or both.

Supporters of Trump’s questioned the legality of imposing such an order on a candidate who is actively running for president.

According to The Daily Wire, Mike Davis, the founder of the Article III Project, said gag orders “generally” protect the Sixth Amendment right of defendants to fair trials, but that does not preclude them from having First Amendment rights.

“Ordering any defendant not to speak about his charges would almost certainly violate the First Amendment,” he added in a post to Twitter. “Telling a presidential candidate he cannot respond to allegations —including media leaks — in a political prosecution is un-American.”

On Tuesday, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan.

Following the court proceedings, the former President traveled back to Mar-a-Lago where he delivered a fiery speech slamming DA Alvin Bragg’s politically-motivated witch hunt.

Federal Judge Grants Trump’s Special Master Request, Rejects DOJ’s Demands

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Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

Thursday evening, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon officially appointed a special master to review the thousands of pages of materials seized by the FBI during its August raid of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

Judge Cannon also rejected the Justice Department’s demand she permits federal investigators continue their own probe into the records marked classified, according to POLITICO. In her ruling, Cannon rejected the DOJ’s claims that records they are trying to review as part of an ongoing criminal investigation remain highly classified or contain extraordinarily sensitive defense information that could damage national security if released.

“The Court does not find it appropriate to accept the Government’s conclusions on these important and disputed issues without further review by a neutral third party in an expedited and orderly fashion,” Cannon, a Trump appointee, wrote in her 10-page ruling denying the Justice Department’s request to essentially exclude about 100 documents marked classified from the special master process.

Judge Cannon selected Raymond Dearie a former federal judge in New York, to lead the independent investigation. Earlier this week, Trump’s legal team named Dearie as one of its proposed judges to oversee the case. In a separate filing, the Justice Department also named Dearie as one of its pre-approved candidates. (Related: DOJ Signals Support for Trump-selected Special Master Candidate)

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.

Dearie accepted the role in a signed filing Thursday night.

Judge Cannon pressed him to complete the review by Nov. 30th, over a month after the Oct. 17 deadline the Justice Department had most recently asked Cannon to set. Cannon also requested the special master “prioritize review of the approximately 100 documents marked as classified (and papers physically attached thereto).”

However, the Justice Department was able to secure two wins over the former president. In Judge Cannon’s ruling, she ordered Trump to shoulder the full cost of Dearie’s review, as well as that for any staff or associates he hires.

The judge also offered clarification on how the DOJ might continue its criminal investigation while the documents are reviewed by the special master, such as “questioning witnesses and obtaining other information about the movement and storage of seized materials, including documents marked as classified, without discussion of their contents.”

“The Government’s submissions, read collectively, do not firmly maintain that the described processes are inextricably intertwined, and instead rely heavily on hypothetical scenarios and generalized explanations that do not establish irreparable injury,” she wrote.

“There has been no actual suggestion by the Government of any identifiable emergency or imminent disclosure of classified information arising from Plaintiff’s allegedly unlawful retention of the seized property,” Cannon wrote. “Instead, and unfortunately, the unwarranted disclosures that float in the background have been leaks to the media after the underlying seizure.”

Fox Corp. Issues Cease-and-Desist Letter Over Leaked Tucker Carlson Footage

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Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America,

Fox Corp., the parent company of Fox News, has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Media Matters for America over its publication of leaked videos of Tucker Carlson.

“We write on behalf of Fox Corporation to clarify any misunderstandings Media Matters
may have had regarding previously unaired footage that Media Matters has published in a series of articles headlined “FOXLEAKS,” attorneys for the network wrote in a letter dated Friday.

“That unaired footage is Fox’s confidential intellectual property; Fox did not consent to its distribution or publication; and Fox does not consent to its further distribution or publication.”

Over the past week, Media Matters has published a series of videos of Carlson, who was recently ousted from his show on the network. One of the leaked videos showed Carlson trashing the network’s streaming service, Fox Nation.

“I don’t want to be a slave to Fox Nation, which I don’t think that people watch anyway,” Carlson said on a call captured by video. “We’re gonna — because, you know, I’m like a representative of the American media now, speaking to an exile in Romania and welcoming him back into the brotherhood of journalists.”

The network’s lawyers said the videos were given to the liberal media watchdog group “without Fox’s authorization” and demanded it “cease and desist from distribution, publication, and misuse of Fox’s misappropriated proprietary footage, which you are now on notice was unlawfully obtained.”

Carlson was suddenly ousted from Fox News nearly three weeks ago. His sudden exit came hours after Fox agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems nearly $800 million to settle a defamation suit against the corporation.

Neither Carlson nor Fox has yet to publicly address the primetime host’s sudden departure.

Tucker Carlson Announces New Platform For Show

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Tucker Carlson via Gage Skidmore Flickr

You can’t keep Tucker Carlson down.

The recently ousted primetime Fox News star is wasting no time and has revealed his show will continue airing on Twitter from now on.

Carlson tweeted a short video breaking the news about where his program will air.

“You often hear people say the news is full of lies. But most of the time that’s not exactly right. Much of what you see on television or read in the New York Times is in fact true in the literal sense,” Carlson said. 

“But that doesn’t make it true. It’s not true. At the most basic level, the news you consume is a lie. A lie of the stealthiest and most insidious kind. Facts have been withheld on purpose along with proportion and perspective. You are being manipulated,” Carlson stated. 

“After more than 30 years in the middle of it, we could tell you stories. The best you can hope for in the news business at this point is the freedom to tell the fullest truth that you can. But there are always limits. And you know that if you bump up against those limits often enough, you will be fired for it,” Carlson continued. 

“Amazingly, as of tonight, there aren’t many platforms left that allow free speech. The last big one remaining in the world, the only one, is Twitter, where we are now. Twitter has long served as the place where our national conversation incubates and develops. Twitter is not a partisan site, everybody’s allowed here, and we think that’s a good thing,” 

And yet for the most part the news you see analyzed on Twitter comes from media organizations that are themselves thinky disguised propaganda outlets. You see it on cable news, you talk about it on Twitter. The result may feel like a debate but actually the gatekeepers are still in charge. We think that’s a bad system,”

“Starting soon we’ll be bringing a new version of the show we’ve been doing for the last six and a half years to Twitter.” 

Carlson concluded by teasing “some other things” and emphasizing the importance of free speech.

Recently, Great American News Desk reported that Carlson was in talks with Elon Musk regarding a new business venture, it’s unclear if Carlson has secured an exclusive agreement with Twitter. (RELATED: Tucker Carlson Quietly Preparing for ‘War’ Against Fox News)

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