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    Special Counsel Asks Supreme Court To Weigh In On Trump Federal Election Interference Case

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    4
    Duncan Lock, Dflock, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

    Special Counsel Jack Smith asked the Supreme Court to immediately take up former President Trump’s federal 2020 election criminal case, urging the justices to weigh in on Trump’s immunity defense as the former president seeks to have the case tossed entirely.

    Citing Trump’s fast-approaching March 4 trial date, Smith asked the Supreme Court to immediately take up the issue.

    The Hill has more:

    “It is of imperative public importance that respondent’s claims of immunity be resolved by this Court and that respondent’s trial proceed as promptly as possible if his claim of immunity is rejected,” Smith wrote in the filing.

    Smith also requested the Supreme Court expedite its consideration of whether to take up the issue. If they do agree to hear it, Smith further asked that the justices expedite their consideration of the case.

    “This case presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former President is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office or is constitutionally protected from federal prosecution when he has been impeached but not convicted before the criminal proceedings begin,” Smith wrote in the filing.

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

    CNN Report Finds Trump Leading In Key Battleground States

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Image via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Bad news for Biden…

    The latest CNN poll found former President Donald Trump leading President Joe Biden in Georgia and Michigan after failing to win the states during the 2020 election.

    CNN has more:

    In Georgia, a state Biden carried by a very narrow margin in 2020, registered voters say they prefer Trump (49%) over Biden (44%) for the presidency in a two-way hypothetical matchup. In Michigan, which Biden won by a wider margin, Trump has 50% support to Biden’s 40%, with 10% saying they wouldn’t support either candidate even after being asked which way they lean. In both Michigan and Georgia, the share of voters who say they wouldn’t support either candidate is at least as large as the margin between Biden and Trump.

    Overall, just 35% in Michigan and 39% in Georgia approve of Biden’s job performance, the surveys find, and majorities in both states say his policies have worsened economic conditions in the country (54% in Georgia, 56% in Michigan).

    Respondents also noted that President Biden’s age plays a major role in his leadership ability. For months, Republicans and Democrats alike have pointed to Biden’s numerous public gaffes and missteps as signs the President is ineffective and should not serve another term.

    Most voters in both states say Biden, who’s 81, does not have the attributes they’re looking for in a president when it comes to his policy positions (57% in Michigan, 56% in Georgia), his ability to understand the problems of people like them (60% in Michigan, 56% in Georgia) or his sharpness and stamina (69% in Michigan, 66% in Georgia).

    Fewer in each state say that Trump, who’s 77, falls short of their expectations for a president on those same measures. But Trump fares worse than Biden on temperament – 57% in Michigan and 58% in Georgia say the former president doesn’t have the temperament they’re looking for, compared with about half who say the same about Biden.

    Trump and Biden are the clear frontrunners for the GOP and Democrat presidential nominations, setting the stage for a 2020 rematch in 2024.

    The polls, conducted by SSRS, also surveyed respondents on how other GOP presidential primary candidates would fare against Biden in the two battleground states.

    In a matchup between Nikki Haley and Biden, the former U.N. ambassador would win the general election in both states, according to the polls.

    In a hypothetical general election matchup between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Biden, the sitting president narrowly leads DeSantis by 3 percentage points in Georgia. In Michigan, DeSantis leads Biden by 7 percentage points.

    Hunter Biden Indicted In California Tax Probe, Faces 17 Years In Prison

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    4
    President Joe Biden hugs his family during the 59th Presidential Inauguration ceremony in Washington, Jan. 20, 2021. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. (DOD Photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II)

    On Thursday, the President’s son Hunter Biden was indicted in California on numerous tax charges.

    Special Counsel David Weiss has been using a federal grand jury in Los Angeles to gather evidence of possible criminal tax charges against Hunter Biden. 

    CNN reported that Hunter was hit with nine counts on charges that include failure to file and pay taxes; evasion of assessment; and false or fraudulent tax return.

    Biden is facing up to 17 years in prison for his crimes.

    Read the indictment below:

    fb71411f-d611-486d-8d18-9c6f4faad482Download

    Prosecutors said that Hunter Biden made more than $7 million during that period, which included money that he received from Burisma, CEFC China Energy, and others.

    “Between 2016 and October 15, 2020, the Defendant spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes,” prosecutors said.

    Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty in October to federal gun charges in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware after being charged out of Weiss’ years-long investigation. 

    House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer attributed Thursday’s indictment to the efforts of “two brave IRS whistleblowers, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler.” 

    “The Department of Justice got caught in its attempt to give Hunter Biden an unprecedented sweetheart plea deal,” Comer said. “Every American should applaud these men for their courage to expose the truth.”

    “Unless U.S. Attorney Weiss investigates everyone involved in the Bidens’ fraud schemes and influence peddling, it will be clear President Biden’s DOJ is protecting Hunter Biden and the big guy.”

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

    McCarthy Announces Early Retirement

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    6
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that he is resigning from Congress.

    The California Republican will leave at the end of the year, setting up a special election before 2024’s U.S. House of Representatives elections.

    Multiple Republican lawmakers told Axios last week that the former House Speaker would vacate his long-held congressional seat before the end of the year.

    According to the report, McCarthy had reportedly gone so far as to confide in major donors that he intended to “get the hell out” of Congress, further eroding the GOP’s tenuous three-vote majority.

    “I have another week or so to decide because if I decide to run again, I have to know in my heart I’m giving 110%,” McCarthy told financial reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin last Wednesday at Manhattan’s DealBook Summit. “I have to know that I want to do that,” the longtime Republican leader continued. “I also have to know if I’m going to walk away, that I’m going to be fine with walking away. And so I’m really taking this time now.”

    Reaction to the then-rumors from his Republican colleagues was mixed.

    “I mean, why the hell would he stay?,” one Republican lawmaker opined. “Damn shame,” quipped another.

    Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz (R), who lead the intra-party rebellion against McCarthy, had an uncompromising take: “I suspect the former speaker will return to spend more time with the people he’s always represented – on Wall Street and K Street. I don’t imagine he’ll be walking the streets of Bakersfield.”

    Some Republicans are worried that McCarthy may use his campaign funds to interfere in the primaries of the eight GOP lawmakers who voted for his removal instead of helping to expand the GOP’s majority.

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is expected to hold a special election after McCarthy departs at the end of the year.

    This article was republished with permission from American Liberty News.

    Trump Predicts Biden Won’t Be Democrat Nominee

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1
    Joe Biden via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Trump is calling it now, Biden will not be the Democrats’ nominee for president next year.

    “I personally don’t think he makes it,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity during a town hall-style event in Davenport, Iowa, on Tuesday. 

    “I can’t think of in the last couple of months any appearance that he’d had where he wasn’t either mumbling or bumbling or stumbling or having no clue where to go, where to exit. Now my question is: do you think in 11 months he will be their candidate?” Hannity asked Trump. 

    “I think he’s in bad shape physically. Do you remember when he said, ‘I’d like to take him behind the barn’? If he took me behind the barn, and I went like this,” Trump said, puckering to blow air from his mouth, “I believe he’d fall over. I believe he’d fall over, who knows!” 

    “And by the way, it was okay for him to say that,” Trump said of Biden’s comment. “He could say that and everybody thought it was so cute. If I ever said it, they’d say, ‘He’s a dictator, he’s a horrible human being.’ You know it’s a whole double standard we have, not only in the law but just about everything else, as you know very well. I personally don’t think he makes it physically. I watched him at the beach. He wasn’t able to lift a beach chair which is meant for children to lift… and mentally I would say he’s possibly equally as bad and maybe worse.” 

    Trump has been narrowly topping Biden in head-to-head polls taken over the past several weeks, including in battleground states. A recent poll conducted by The Economist/YouGov found that 51% of respondents believe Trump has done a better job as president, while 41% answered that Biden has done better.

    Biden Says Re-Election Plans Entirely Revolve Around Trump

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    4
    Joe Biden via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Now we see where President Biden’s priorities are…

    During remarks to donors at one of the fundraisers he attended on Tuesday in Massachusetts the President said he doubted he would seek a second term in the White House if Donald Trump was not also running for President.

    “If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running. But we cannot let him win,” Biden said, according to a press pool report from the event.

    Another reporter also asked if Trump were to drop out of the race if Biden would consider doing the same.

    “Would you drop out if Trump drops out?” the reporter asked.

    “No, not now,” President Biden replied.

    Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who is running a challenge against Biden for the Democrat Party’s 2024 nomination, responded to Biden’s quote on Tuesday, saying on X, “Says the candidate with lower approval figures and losing to Trump in every poll of consequence. It’s downright delusional.”

    Trump has been narrowly topping Biden in head-to-head polls taken over the past several weeks, including in battleground states. 

    President Biden’s age and leadership abilities have cast serious doubts among Americans that Biden is the right man for the job. Even former Obama adviser David Axelrod has openly questioned if it would be “wise” for Biden to back out of the race now.

    Trump has dominated the polls thus far, however, his numerous legal battles are cause for concern.

    Speaker Johnson Says GOP Is Blurring Faces In Capitol Riot Tapes

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    4
    Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La) confirmed House Republicans are blurring the faces of individuals seen on January 6, 2021 Capitol footage to avoid retaliation from the Justice Department.

    “We have to blur some of the faces of persons who participated in the events of that day because we don’t want them to be retaliated against and to be charged by the DOJ and to have other concerns and problems,” Johnson said in a press conference on Tuesday.  

    “We’re working steadily on it. And we’ve hired additional personnel to do that,” Johnson said. “And all of those tapes, ultimately at the end, will be out so everybody can see them.”

    “I don’t think partisan elected officials in Washington should present a narrative and expect that it should be seen as the ultimate truth,” Johnson said of Jan. 6.

    “The release of the January 6 tapes is a critical and important exercise. We want transparency,” Johnson said. “House Republicans trust the American people to draw their own conclusions.”

    Last month, House Republicans released some of the security footage from the riot and posted it online where its available to the public. However, with the change in Speaker leadership the House Administration Committee is now proactively reviewing all footage and posting as much online as possible, as well as allowing members of the public to request time at the in-person terminals.

    Appeals Court Rules Over Trump’s Presidential Immunity In Civil Jan. 6 Suits

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Elvert Barnes, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    On Friday, an appeals court found former President Trump is not immune from civil lawsuits blaming him for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

    The Hill has more:

    A three-judge panel affirmed that presidents can carry out their official duties without exposure to civil liabilities, but when they are not acting in that capacity, the protection doesn’t carry over.

    “The President…does not spend every minute of every day exercising official responsibilities,” Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia wrote in an opinion. “And when he acts outside the functions of his office, he does not continue to enjoy immunity from damages liability just because he happens to be the President.”

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

    First Female Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, Dead

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    Duncan Lock, Dflock, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

    Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court passed away Friday. She was 93 years old.

    “A daughter of the American Southwest, Sandra Day O’Connor blazed a historic trail as our Nation’s first female Justice,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement. 

    “She met that challenge with undaunted determination, indisputable ability, and engaging candor. We at the Supreme Court mourn the loss of a beloved colleague, a fiercely independent defender of the rule of law, and an eloquent advocate for civics education,” he continued. “And we celebrate her enduring legacy as a true public servant and patriot.” 

    O’Connor died of “complications related to advanced dementia, probably Alzheimer’s, and a respiratory illness,” the court announced in a statement.

    Just over a decade after she retired, O’Connor announced in 2018 that she was withdrawing from public life after being diagnosed with dementia.

    Nominated by then-President Reagan in 1981, O’Connor became the first woman to serve on the nation’s highest bench.

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

    Report: Gag Order Reinstated In Trump Fraud Trial

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    9
    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.

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