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    DeSantis Defends Trump After Latest Criminal Indictment News

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    Republicans have rushed to defend former president Donald Trump after news of his latest indictment.

    Presidential candidate and Trump rival Ron DeSantis said during an interview on Tuesday that if elected President of the United States, he will clear the ranks at the FBI and Department of Justice.

    DeSantis made the remarks during an interview on CNN with host Jake Tapper when asked about the former president saying that he has received a letter informing him that he is the target in an investigation into his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

    “If Jack Smith has evidence of criminality, should Donald Trump be held accountable?” Tapper asked.

    “So, here’s the problem. This country is going down the road of criminalizing political differences,” DeSantis responded. “I think that’s wrong. Alvin Bragg stretched the statute in Manhattan to be able to try to target Donald Trump. Most people, even people on the Left, acknowledge if that wasn’t Trump, that case would not have likely been brought against a normal civilian.”

    “And so you have a situation where the Department of Justice, FBI had been weaponized against people they don’t like, and the number one example that happened to be against Donald Trump with the Russia collusion,” he said. “That was not a legitimate investigation; that was being done to try to drive Trump out of office. And so what I’ve said, as president, my job is to restore a single standard of justice to end weaponization of these agencies.”

    “We’re going to have a new FBI director on day one; we’re going to have big changes at the Department of Justice,” he added. “Americans across the political spectrum need to have confidence that what is going on is based on the rule of law, not based on what political tribe you’re in.”

    Georgia Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Effort To Halt Election Probe

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously shut down former President Trump’s attempt to stop a potential indictment for tampering with the results of the 2020 presidential election in that state.

    In a five-page decision issued Monday afternoon, all nine justices of the Georgia Supreme Court said Trump’s lawyers had failed to make a persuasive case for shutting down the inquiry led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. She has signaled that indictments are possible in the election-related probe in the next few weeks as a grand jury convenes to consider possible charges.

    The Georgia court said there was no reason to permit that in these circumstances.

    “He makes no showing that he has been prevented fair access to the ordinary channels,” the high court wrote in an opinion not attributed to any specific justice. “He is asking this Court to step in and itself decide the motions currently pending in the superior court. This is not the sort of relief that this Court affords, at least absent extraordinary circumstances that Petitioner has not shown are present here.”

    Willis’ probe reportedly focuses on pressure Trump and his allies put on Georgia officials the weeks after the 2020 election to try to reverse Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the Peach State. A key piece of evidence in the probe is an audio recording of a call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger urging him to “find 11,780 votes,” which would have pushed Trump across the threshold to claim victory.

    Various election officials and national GOP figures have testified during the special grand jury probe.

    Trump’s attorneys also filed a petition in March with Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, asking that Willis’ probe be halted. However, McBurney has yet to rule on that motion. 

    Trump Notified He Is Target In Justice Department’s J6 Investigation

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    4
    Elvert Barnes, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    On Tuesday former President Trump confirmed that he is a target of the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 investigation focusing on his efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election. 

    Trump said in a post on Truth Social he received the “target letter” Sunday evening.

    “Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter (again it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an arrest and indictment.”

    Attorney Merrick Garland previously said he planned to pursue anyone who “unlawfully interfered with the transfer of power” but had yet to bring any formal charges against the former president.

    Recently, Prosecutors have called a number of Trump allies before the grand jury, including Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and former aide Hope Hicks. Prosecutors reportedly asked questions about whether the former president was aware he had lost the election, as demonstrating intent is key for some charges. 

    It’s unclear what specific charges Trump could face if prosecutors decide to move ahead.

    An indictment would mark the third time this year Trump has been charged.

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

    White House Contender Releases Short List of SCOTUS Candidates

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

    On Monday, White House candidate Vivek Ramaswamy announced a list of candidates he would nominate to the Supreme Court if he were elected.

    “President Biden’s focus on judicial appointments appeared to be on diversity of race & gender. While I drew from diverse experiences — current and former federal judges, a former Solicitor General, two U.S. Senators — my sole criterion was to select candidates with an unwavering commitment to an originalist understanding of the U.S. Constitution, who also understand the unique threats to liberty in the 21st century (including lurking state action),” Ramaswamy said in a statement. 

    The list, first reported by Axios, includes multiple federal appeals court judges, like Judge James Ho, a member of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals who Trump suggested as a potential nominee to the Supreme Court prior to the 2020 presidential election.

    Ramaswamy’s list also includes three other federal appeals court judges: Judge Lawrence VanDyke, Judge Lisa Branch, and Judge Thomas Hardiman.

    The list is rounded out with three non-judges, including Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), both of whom also appeared at times on Trump’s Supreme Court shortlists.

    Ramaswamy also included Paul Clement, a veteran Supreme Court advocate who served as U.S. solicitor general under the second Bush administration. 

    DeSantis Reveals A Republican Under Consideration to Become His Running Mate

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    8

    Republican White House contender Ron DeSantis says he is eyeing Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds as his potential pick for vice president.

    DeSantis made the remarks after he touted the popular Iowa governor on Friday at a forum with Tucker Carlson. (RELATED: Tucker Carlson to Host GOP Presidential Forum – Without Trump)

    “Governor, you have spent a lot of time with Governor Reynolds, you defended her after President Trump’s recent statements,” a reporter said to DeSantis at an event on Saturday. “Would you consider her as a potential vice presidential pick in this campaign?”

    “Of course,” DeSantis responded. “I mean, she’s one of the top public servants in America, I thought the attacks on her were totally, totally out of hand, and totally unnecessary.”

    “We should be thanking good Republican office holders,” he continued. “You know, we kind of joke about the Iowa-Florida [competition], sometimes they do things before us, sometimes we do. But honestly, I want them to do better than us because it’s healthy. When Republicans are doing well, I like that, I don’t get jealous of that, I want to see them do well.”

    “And so they’ve done a great job and I think she’s been a model public servant and anybody who’s a Republican that’s trying to denigrate her I think is way off base on that,” he concluded.

    Chris Christie Says He’d Fight Trump

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    13
    Maryland GovPics, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

    A fight for the ages…

    Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said he would fight former President Trump and said if the two former allies were facing off in a match, “I’d kick his ass.”

    “Come on. The guy’s 78 years old. I’d kick his ass,” Christie told Piers Morgan in an interview that aired Thursday, when asked who would win in a head-to-head fight. 

    “Look, I’ll fight Donald Trump anywhere he wants, in any arena he wants – whether it’s on the debate stage or in the Octagon,” Christie later added.

    The fighting match rhetoric comes as some high-profile figures have claimed on social media and elsewhere that they were prepared to fight their chief rivals. 

    Twitter owner Elon Musk claimed he would be “up for a cage fight” against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who, in turn, tweeted “send me the location.”

    Christie has been a vocal opponent of Trump for years but has recently become especially outspoken against his latest campaign for the White House.

    Ex-Fox News Host Reveals What Led to Abrupt Exit

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Mark Taylor from Rockville, USA, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    Recently ousted Fox News host Geraldo Rivera says that his “toxic relationship” with one of his co-hosts on The Five was a motivating factor behind his exit.

    During an appearance with The View, Rivera said that after he was taken off the program, he decided to retire from the network altogether.

    He explained that he still had time left on his contract, but he decided “if you fired me from the number one show, then I’m going to quit. And that’s basically what happened.”

    “Which one?” Joy Behar asked. “Does it rhyme with Smeshie Shwatters,” another co-host added, clearly referring to Jesse Watters.

    Rivera wouldn’t reveal who it was, beyond referring to the person as “he,” making clear it was not Jeanine Pirro, and urging the hosts to “check the Internet.”

    Rivera also had a tense relationship with Fox News star Greg Gutfeld. The two media stars recently had a dustup on Twitter over Tucker Carlson’s exit from the network.

    Later in the segment, Sara Haines circled back to Rivera’s “tox relationship” comments and asked if that was the reason he was axed from The Five.

    “Sure, and also I thought that it was very unfair that I was not judged objectively in our disputes but rather he was always favored and I was the one — I was suspended, you know, three times,” he said. “My appearances, I had two, three appearances scheduled weekly, then biweekly, then monthly, then they kind of disappeared. They were canceled in the last day right before I was supposed to go on, so I was really ticked off.”

    When the conversation shifted to Carlson’s new Twitter venture, Rivera revealed how he felt towards the conservative firebrand.

    “I think that he is an excellent writer. I think that he was very charismatic in his presentation. He was number one for a reason, was a pretty good show. Then he drifted into this murky area where a swampy area where, you know, these conspiracy theories and it’s not just generates a whole bunch of different mucky kind of conspiracies,” Rivera told the panelists.

    He added, “Fox is a tremendous platform. And once you lose that platform, you’re kind of screaming in the wilderness and competing with a lot of other people who have podcasts and so forth. So will he be the same character? I don’t know.”

    “I don’t like to be unkind, but that what he did, just as I would never vote for Donald Trump, I will never forgive Tucker for what he did about January 6th,” Rivera concluded.

    DeSantis Dismisses Trump Running Mate Speculation

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    8
    Ron DeSantis via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Ron DeSantis has his eyes on the prize.

    The Florida governor and White House contender said he is not interested in becoming Donald Trump’s running mate if given the chance.

    “I don’t think so. I’m not a No. 2 guy,” DeSantis said on the “Wisconsin Right Now” radio show, NBC News reported.

    DeSantis said he would opt to stay in his governorship over joining Trump’s ticket, adding that the vice presidency “doesn’t really have any authority.”

    When asked whom he would consider signing on as a running mate, the Sunshine State governor said “it’s a little bit presumptuous to be doing that at this stage,” adding that he’s focused on winning the early primaries before delving deep into his search for vice president.

    The Florida governor is trailing Trump in the 2024 GOP primary race by nearly 30 points nationally, according to a FiveThirtyEight poll.

    Recently, a pro-DeSantis spokesperson told Mediaite he has serious concerns about the Florida Governor’s ability to take on Trump.

    “Right now in national polling we are way behind, I’ll be the first to admit that,” said Cortes. “I believe in being blunt and honest. It’s an uphill battle but clearly Donald Trump is the runaway frontrunner.”

    He added that DeSantis’ campaign was the “clear underdog,” and added that in the first four primary states, “which matter tremendously, polls are a lot tighter, we are still clearly down. We’re down double digits, we have work to do.”

    Who do you think the winning Republican ticket is? Tell us in the comments below!

    Tucker Carlson to Host GOP Presidential Forum – Without Trump

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America,

    Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson will host a Republican presidential forum later this week but one notable figure will be absent from the event – Donald Trump.

    Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of the Family Leader, which is hosting the forum along with Blaze Media, told The Hill on Tuesday the organization had just learned Trump will not participate. 

    A Trump spokesperson confirmed that a scheduling event will prevent Trump from participating in the upcoming forum.

    “President Trump was in Iowa last week and will be back next week,” a Trump campaign spokesperson told The Hill. “Unfortunately there is a scheduling conflict and the President will be in Florida this weekend headlining the premier national young voter conference with Turning Point Action conference while DeSantis is nowhere to be found.”

    The forum, which will be held Friday in the early primary state of Iowa, will feature one-on-one conversations between Carlson and leading GOP candidates of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

    The forum comes just more than a month before the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) first debate in Milwaukee.

    However, Trump has yet to confirm his participation in the first RNC debate, citing a “hostile” relationship with Fox News and polling showing him with a commanding lead over other candidates.

    In an interview Tuesday on “The Hill” on NewsNation, senior Trump advisor Jason Miller, said, “At the moment, President Trump has indicated that he’s unlikely to participate, at least in the first two debates.”

    “It really wouldn’t make much sense for him to go and debate right now with a bunch of folks who are down at three, four and five percent,” Miller continued.

    “So ultimately, President Trump will make a decision as we get closer,” he concluded. “He has not said anything definitive, one way or the other. I’m not expecting him to participate, though.”

    Friday’s forum will be available to watch via streaming on Blaze TV’s YouTube channel.

    Trump Lawyers Seek to Delay Mar-a-Lago Documents Trial

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Trump’s legal team is requesting a judge to delay the upcoming trial concerning the former president’s alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House.

    “The government’s request to begin a trial of this magnitude within six months of indictment is unreasonable, telling, and would result in a miscarriage of justice,” they wrote in the brief.

    “The Government appears to favor an expedited (and therefore cursory) approach to this case,” they added.

    Trump’s attorneys also argue the trial will hinder the former president’s campaign abilities.

    “The Court now presides over a prosecution advanced by the administration of a sitting President against his chief political rival, himself a leading candidate for the Presidency of the United States,” the filing reads.

    “Therefore, a measured consideration and timeline that allows for a careful and complete review of the procedures that led to this indictment and the unprecedented legal issues presented herein best serves the interests of the Defendants and the public.”

    The Justice Department has requested a Dec. 11 trial date. Judge Aileen Cannon had earlier set an initial August trial date, which the filing also asks her to withdraw.

    The filing from Trump’s attorneys also notes the magnitude of the unclassified discovery swiftly turned over after Trump’s arraignment, including more than 800,000 pages. 

    Attorneys for Trump’s co-defendant Walt Nauta, Trump’s valet who was spotted on security camera footage moving boxes in and out of a Mar-a-Lago storage room, also signed onto the filing. Last week, Nauta pleaded not guilty in a Miami courtroom. (RELATED: Trump Valet Pleads Not Guilty in Mar-A-Lago Case)

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