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Special Counsel Overseeing Trump Criminal Probe Subpoenas Mike Pence

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Mike Pence via Gage Skidmore Flickr

The special counsel investigating Former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election has summoned former Vice President Mike Pence to testify.

The development follows months of negotiations between Department of Justice prosecutors and Pence’s legal team.

WATCH:

Per The Wall Street Journal:

The move represents an escalation in the Justice Department investigation and sets the stage for a likely court battle over executive privilege, which lawyers for Mr. Trump have raised in recent years to block or slow the testimony of former administration officials in various probes.

Mr. Pence’s former chief of staff, Marc Short, and his former counsel, Greg Jacob, last year appeared before a federal grand jury as part of the investigation into Mr. Trump’s efforts to discredit the 2020 election results.

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Mr. Smith in November to examine efforts to undo the election results as well as to probe the handling of classified documents found at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. That investigation has intensified over a year to include an extraordinary warrant-backed search of the property in August.

Mr. Pence declined to speak to the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by Mr. Trump’s supporters. But the former vice president has viewed the Justice Department investigation as different from the House inquiry, which he considered partisan, according to people familiar with his thinking.

According to a person familiar with the matter, Pence’s team is weighing its response.

Republican Governor Blames Jan. 6 Panel After Phone Gets Hacked

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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.  

Hispanic Democrats Introduce Bill to Ban ‘Latinx’ Term

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Hispanic Democrats in Connecticut have introduced a bill to ban the woke term “Latinx” from state documents.

The bill, written and endorsed by five Democrats of Hispanic descent, comes amid increased scrutiny over the work term and its place in government documents.

The text of the bill reads:

[T]he general statutes [shall] be amended to prohibit any state agency, or state employee on behalf of a state agency, from using the term “Latinx” on any official communications or forms of the state agency.

A search on the state website reveals that at least 920 state documents contain the word “Latinx.”

It was introduced by five members of the state House: state Reps. Geraldo C. Reyes, Christopher Rosario, Juan R. Candelaria, Robert Sanchez, and Minnie Gonzalez.

“This has been offensive and derogatory to all Puerto Ricans, and it’s something that hasn’t sat well with a lot of people here for a while.” Reyes added to CT Insider. “When I found out that Arkansas Gov. [Sanders] banned it on her first day in the office, I saw that as an opportunity for me to do the same thing.” Reyes, however, criticized Sanders’ move, saying she had “other motivations” for banning the word in Arkansas government documents.

According to The Daily Wire, a national poll conducted in October found that only 1% of Hispanics identify as “Latinx,” a gender-neutral term imposed on Hispanics by left-wing culture. WPA Intelligence, a conservative polling firm that collaborated with Visto Media on behalf of the Latino advocacy group Bienvenido, conducted a poll of 1,288 Hispanic registered Democrat, Republican, and Independent voters.

The poll found that the community prefers to be identified as Hispanic, while others said American or Latino.

Last month, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders banned the use of “latinx” in state documents as one of her first acts as governor. (RELATED: Arkansas Governor Bans Woke Term During First Day on the Job)

“ETHNICALLY INSENSITIVE AND PEJORATIVE LANGUAGE HAS NO PLACE IN OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS OR GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE TITLES,” SANDERS’ EXECUTIVE ORDER STATED. “THE GOVERNMENT HAS A RESPONSIBILITY TO RESPECT ITS CITIZENS AND USE ETHNICALLY APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE, PARTICULARLY WHEN REFERRING TO ETHNIC MINORITIES.”

GOP Congressman Votes for Donald Trump for House Speaker

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

During the 118th Congress’ seventh round of voting to determine the next Speaker of the House of Representatives one lawmaker to cast his vote for Donald J. Trump.

The largely symbolic vote came from Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who has been a prominent figure among the roughly 20 lawmakers to detract from supporting House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy for the role.

Gaetz has repeatedly floated the idea of Trump becoming speaker, pledging to nominate him since 2021.

However, Gaetz has admitted to Fox News on Thursday that McCarthy’s win is potentially unavoidable, but argued he would be a speaker with a “straight jacket.”

“There are only two outcomes here: Either Kevin McCarthy withdraws from the speaker’s race, or he has to wake up every morning and put on the world’s best constructive straight jacket before doing the prayer and the pledge at the beginning of House session,” Gaetz said, adding that several of his colleagues were working to on “how to construct that straight jacket.”

“Kevin McCarthy has offered everything he can think to offer and everything we can think to ask for due to his current state of desperation, and I can’t tell you whether or not that will be enough to get him there. I doubt it will,” he said.

Kevin McCarthy recieved 201 votes, Byron Donalds recieved 19 votes, Hakeem Jeffries recieved 212 votes for Speaker during the seventh round of voting.

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Democrat Senator Announces Cancer Diagnosis

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Photo via Pixabay images

On Thursday, Pennsylvania Democrat Senator Bob Casey announced he was diagnosed with prostate cancer last month.

Casey, 62, said he will have surgery in the coming months and expects to continue serving in the Senate. He is the chairman of the Aging Committee.

“Last month, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. While the news came back as a shock, I can report that I have an excellent prognosis, as well as the benefit of exceptional medical care and the unwavering support of my family. In the coming months I will undergo surgery, after which I am expected to make a full recovery. I am confident that my recommended course of treatment will allow me to continue my service in the 118th Congress with minimal disruption, and I look forward to the work ahead.” Sen Casey shared on Thursday.

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Trump Pressures Zuckerberg to Address Account Freezeout

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Photo via Pixabay images

Former President Trump appears ready to rejoin social media.

According to NBC News, Trump’s campaign is formally petitioning Facebook parent company META to unblock his accounts.

Facebook and Twitter banned Trump a day after a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol as lawmakers certified Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

Facebook ultimately decided to institute a limited ban on Trump that would come up for review after two years, starting Jan. 7 of this year.

“We believe that the ban on President Trump’s account on Facebook has dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse,” Trump’s campaign wrote in its letter to Meta on Tuesday, according to a copy reviewed by NBC News.

Trump’s campaign didn’t threaten a lawsuit, as some sources close to Trump thought he would. It instead talked about the importance of free speech and petitioned Meta for a “meeting to discuss President Trump’s prompt reinstatement to the platform.”

A Meta spokesperson declined to comment about Trump beyond saying the company “will announce a decision in the coming weeks in line with the process we laid out.”

According to a Trump adviser, who has spoken with him about Facebook and shared the gist of the private conversation with NBC News on condition of anonymity, explained that his campaign is cautiously optimistic Facebook will ultimately honor the two-year ban. However, the source noted the campaign is prepared to engage with House Republicans to advocate on Trump’s behalf and pressure Meta. The adviser said Congress is likely to examine Section 230 of the federal law affecting social media companies.

“If Facebook wants to have this fight, fine, but the House is leverage, and keeping Trump off Facebook just looks political,” the adviser said, noting that House Democrats like Adam Schiff of California told Facebook last month to keep Trump off the platform.

Analysis: Corporate America Has Donated $82 Billion To BLM-Related Causes

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A protester holds up a Black Lives Matter sign outside the Hennepin County Government Center.

A new analysis is revealing the price tag of corporate America’s woke donations.

According to the latest reports from the Claremont Institute shows corporations have donated over $82 billion to Black Lives Matter-related causes.

According to The Daily Wire, the BLM Funding Database is a part of Claremont’s American Way of Life project.

In a column announcing the new tool, Claremont stated that the $82.9 billion given so far “includes more than $123 million to the BLM parent organizations directly. These figures, while shocking, likely underrepresent the true magnitude of the shakedown as some companies failed to make known their contributions, and many BLM organizations remain unknown.”

In the aftermath of the 2020 George Floyd riots, numerous American corporations lined up to direct funds towards BLM-related causes, as well as cut ties with Republicans. For example, BlackRock has pledged $810 million to BLM-related groups in the future.

“Blackrock instituted a $10M action plan, including $5M to organizations supporting racial equity, $5M fund to elevate Black and Latinx social entrepreneurs, and a doubling of its employee charitable gift matching program from $5K to $10K per donation,” the database claims. “It also established an $800M Impact Opportunities Fund to back businesses or projects serving BIPOC communities. About $80M of the fund deployed as of May, 2022.”

The now infamous Silicon Valley Bank, which critics have said failed due in part to its focus on woke causes, gave more than $73 million BLM and related groups.

However, Claremont reports that very little of the money featured in the database actually goes to helping poor black Americans. Instead, a majority of funds have been directed towards promoting controversial ideologies such as critical race theory and gender theory. Critics have also accused BLM leaders of profiting from the donations.

Last year,  Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation leader Shalomyah Bowers was accused of stealing more than $10 million from the organization for personal use. (RELATED: Black Lives Matter Official Stole Millions From Organization)

Bowers was hired by Marxist Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors in 2020 to help raise money. In the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Bowers was described as a “rogue administrator, a middle man turned usurper” who siphoned contributions to the nonprofit activist group to use as a “personal piggy bank.”

Facebook Officially Reinstates Former President Trump’s Account

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Photo via Pixabay images

Facebook has officially reinstated former President Donald Trump’s account.

Trump was banned from both social media platforms, along with others such as Twitter, following the January 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol. Facebook at the time said Trump would be barred from using both Facebook and Instagram for inciting violence, a violation of their terms of service.

It is unclear whether Trump will use the platform—though the former president was reinstated on Twitter last November, he has still not used his account, opting instead to use his own platform, Truth Social.

Last month, Facebook CEO Nick Clegg told Axios that Trump’s accounts would be reinstated “in coming weeks,” though he cautioned that future bans are on the table. “We’ve always believed that Americans should be able to hear from the people who want to lead the country,” Clegg told Axios. “We don’t want to stand in the way of that.”

Trump has yet to post on either his Facebook or Instagram accounts, which together have more than 50 million followers.

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

House Reconvenes for Fourth Round of House Speaker Election

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Byron Donalds via Gage Skidmore Flickr

On Wednesday, Congressional lawmakers reconvened to hold its fourth round of voting to determine the next U.S. House Speaker.

Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) was nominated for Speaker as was New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. House Freedom Caucus chairman Chip Roy nominated Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) for the Speaker’s gavel.

While the fourth round of voting is ongoing, Rep. Donalds has already secured 20 votes for Speaker, meaning McCarthy will once again fall short of the 218 threshold- sending Congress to a fifth round of voting.

Notably, no Republican followed Tuesday’s lead to nominate Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan. Jordan, who is expected to chair the House Judiciary Committee received 19 votes for Speaker during Tuesday’s round of voting.

Rep. Jordan cast his vote for Rep. McCarthy for House Speaker.

On Tuesday, no nominee received the 218 votes needed to win the Speaker’s gavel sending lawmakers into chaos.

Over the weekend, Rep. McCarthy offered a number of concessions including allowing a move to “vacate the chair” that would force a vote on ousting the Speaker with the approval of five Republican members, rather than a threshold of at least half of the House GOP Conference that Republicans adopted in an internal rule in November. 

The chamber is also scheduled to create a House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the “Weaponization of the Federal Government,” a recognition of a request to increase scrutiny on the Biden administration and intelligence agencies.

In a letter to GOP colleagues, McCarthy — speaking as “Speaker-Designate” — also addressed a request from conservatives to have more representation on committees.

“I will use my selections on key panels to ensure they more closely reflect the ideological makeup of our conference, and will advocate for the same when it comes to the membership of standing committees. This will facilitate greater scrutiny of bills from the start so they stand a greater chance of passing in the end,” the letter from McCarthy said.

This story is breaking and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Donald Trump Points Finger at This Group for Lackluster Midterm Results

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Finger pointing almost never solves anything but that isn’t stopping Donald Trump.

On Monday, former President Trump blamed pro-life Republicans for last year’s disappointing midterm results after experts predicted the GOP to make definitive gains in the House and Senate. Trump’s comments come after some have blamed the results on the former President’s interference.

“It wasn’t my fault that the Republicans didn’t live up to expectations in the midterms,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “It was the ‘abortion issue,’ poorly handled by many Republicans, especially those that firmly insisted on No Exceptions, even in the case of rape, incest or life of the mother, that lost large numbers of voters.”

“Also, the people that pushed so hard, for decades, against abortion, got their wish from the U.S. Supreme Court, and just plain disappeared, not to be seen again,” he added.

Trump’s comments on pro-life Republicans come as his presidential campaign experiences a dip in the polls. Prior to the midterms, Trump was the overwhelming favorite to be the Republican nominee, regularly winning primary polls with upward of 50% of the vote.

Last month, a Wall Street Journal poll of Republican primary voters found that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) leads Trump by double digits for the GOP nomination.