Latest

    News

    Home News Page 65

    Report: Fox News Pulls The Plug On Trump Interviews

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    11
    Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Is Fox News icing out former President Donald Trump?

    New reports indicate the media giant has potentially been blackballed from making appearances on the conservative network for the considerable future.

    “In recent months, Trump’s inner circle has become increasingly convinced that Fox News is essentially sidelining the former president by restricting live appearances on their network,” reported Zachary Petrizzo. “‘Trump is not allowed live on Fox,’ a Trump operative told The Daily Beast, chalking it up to ‘fear’ that Trump could level a baseless allegation that could leave the network in a legal mess. A Trump adviser told The Daily Beast a similar story — that the former president isn’t allowed on live air anymore. At the very least, this person said, Fox News prefers to have Trump in a pre-recorded setting. ‘Fox sent down word from the top that they don’t want to ‘platform’ Trump like they did before,’ a Trump adviser told The Daily Beast. ‘I find it hilarious. For one, it sounds like something MSNBC would do.'”

    “After a lengthy hiatus last year, Trump re-emerged on Fox News this past March,” said the report. “However, following Trump’s absence, the former president only came back in a diminished capacity. Starting in March of 2023, Trump conducted a string of interviews with Fox hosts and anchors including Sean Hannity, Bret Baier, and Larry Kudlow. But gone are the days of Trump simply calling in live and offering his stream of consciousness. According to a search by The Daily Beast and Media Matters for America, Trump last phoned in live to a Fox News program in April of 2022.”

    Trump’s relationship with Fox News has deteriorated since leaving the White House but the current Republican presidential frontrunner has still made a number of appearances with the network in past months. The report noted that the network’s distance from Trump could also be a result of a recent settlement with Dominion Voting Systems.

    Trump has fired off repeated attacks against the network over its coverage of the former President.

    Second Trump Lawyer Pleads Guilty In Georgia Case

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    5
    Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

    A second Trump attorney has pleaded guilty in the Georgia election interference case brought by District Attorney Fani Willis.

    On Friday, Kenneth Chesebro agreed to testify truthfully in any future case proceedings and write a letter of apology to Georgia citizens.

    According to reports from The Hill, Fulton County prosecutor Daysha Young told the court that if the case had gone to trial, the state would have shown that Chesebro — along with Trump, Rudy Giuliani and other co-defendants — entered a criminal conspiracy to cause other co-conspirators to “falsely hold themselves out as the duly elected and qualified electors for the president and vice president from Georgia following the Nov. 3, 2020, presidential election.” 

    Young also said that Chesebro was present at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when an inflamed pro-Trump mob stormed the building while the certification of the presidential election was underway. 

    “Are you pleading guilty because you agree that there’s a factual basis that supports this remaining charge?” McAfee asked Chesebro. 

    “Yes, this charge,” Chesebro replied. 

    McAfee accepted the agreement. 

    Chesebro was also sentenced to five years of probation, 100 hours of community service and ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution.

    He was originally charged with seven felony counts linked to the alternate electors scheme, for which he drafted multiple memos detailing strategies for how slates of pro-Trump individuals could falsely claim to be their states’ valid electors.  However, Under the plea agreement, Chesebro will only be charged with one of those counts, conspiracy to commit filing false documents. 

    Chesebro’s guilty plea comes a day after Sidney Powell also pleaded guilty. (RELATED: Sidney Powell Pleads Guilty In Georgia Election Interference Case)

    Report: Sidney Powell Pleads Guilty In Georgia Election Interference Case

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    0
    Tom Williams, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    Pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell pled guilty in the Georgia election subversion case brought forward by Fulton County DA Fani Willis.

    Per reports from The Hill, Powell appeared before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Thursday to enter her plea, just days before her trial was scheduled to begin next week.

    “How do you plead to the six counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with performance of election duties?” asked Daysha Young, a Fulton County prosecutor. 

    “Guilty,” Powell said. 

    McAfee accepted Powell’s plea and said that she could not withdraw it. Powell was sentenced to six years’ probation, a $6,000 fine and $2,700 restitution. She will also be required to “testify truthfully” in future proceedings and must turn over any documents requested by the district attorney’s office.  

    CNN’s Marshall Cohen reports that as part of her guilty plea, Powell will be required to testify at future trials and write an apology letter to the citizens of Georgia, prosecutors said at a hearing Thursday.”

    Powell is the second of 19 co-defendants in the case to plead guilty. 

    Powell was indicted on seven charges in August, accusing her and the others of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act statute by entering a months-long conspiracy to try to keep Donald Trump in the White House following the 2020 election. 

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

    Democrat Billionaire Admits He Was Wrong About Trump

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    5
    Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Silicon Valley venture capital investor Chamath Palihapitiya, who voted for Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, is changing his tune about Donald Trump.

    American Wire has more:

    “For where every other president found a way to frankly make our situation a little bit worse, specifically around wars, he did not do that. And that is a huge accomplishment that needs to be acknowledged,” he said Monday on the “All-In Podcast” he cohosts.

    “As a Democrat, who has been left homeless, who is now definitely in the center, but probably leaning increasingly right, I’m left yet again with an appreciation, despite the messenger of the message, of the Trump administration, because what those guys did, was pretty incredible,” Palihapitiya observed.

    “These Abraham Accords, the accords with Israel and the GCC, the almost accord between Israel and Saudi, to really be able to like find a long-lasting peace is just a real example for the world. And those guys did a lot of really great work,” Palihapitiya said.

    “This is a moment when you have to start to re-underwrite, is one’s ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ causing more damage than anything President Trump could have done? And I think the answer is yes, because it is now causing us to not see that good work, and then embrace and extend it,” he added. “So much of the work that happened in that administration turned out to have been right, and that is what is so frustrating for me.”

    “The work on the border wall, we didn’t like the messenger, so, we killed the message. Turned out it was right,” Palihapitiya noted. “Issuing long-term debt to refinance when rates were at zero. We didn’t like the messenger, so we killed the message. A structural peace deal in the Middle East. We didn’t like the messenger, so we killed the message. When are we going to stop shooting ourselves in the foot? When are we going to actually take the time to look past who was saying things and actually listen to them word for word?”

    Trump Doxxes Dem Attorney General After Being Hit With Gag Order

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    10
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Trump could be in deep trouble now…

    On Tuesday, the former president lashed out at New York Attorney General Letitia James over the current fraud trial before posting a link to her home address despite already being under a gag order in the case.

    Trump’s Truth Social post contained his usual insults against the Democrat prosecutor but added a little extra spice to the message:

    Her Fake Case against me should be dropped immediately! My Financial Statements are extremely conservative, and her numbers were way off, including the fact that she undervalued Mar-a-Lago and Doral by Billions of Dollars. She also didn’t reveal the 100% Disclaimer Clause at the front of the Financial Statements, and that she sued me under a Statute that was never used before. MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE AND ELECTION INTERFERENCE ALL WRAPPED UP IN ONE!

    Mediaite has more:

    The post included a link to a smear piece by white nationalist Laura Loomer that featured documents that showed a home address for Attorney General James. The link is to a Loomer substack post.

    According to the gag order imposed earlier this week, Trump is specifically prohibited from attacking the court’s staff.

    Engoron said in court, “Consider this statement an order forbidding all parties from posting, emailing or speaking publicly about any members of my staff. Failure to abide by this … will result in serious sanctions.”

    Trump Appeals Gag Order in Jan. 6 Case

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    4
    Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    The day after the federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s election interference case agreed to a “narrow” gag order the former President’s team is seeking an appeal.

    According to reports from The Hill, Trump’s legal team is expected to challenge the order on First Amendment grounds, as the former president has complained the order unfairly restricts his freedom of speech.

    On Monday, Judge Tanya Chutkan issued the ruling barring the former President from targeting witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and their families.

    Judge Tanya Chutkan said Trump’s status as a candidate did not give him authority to level a “smear campaign” against those involved in the case, saying that “1st amendment protections yield to the administration of justice and to the protection of witnesses.”

    During the hearing, Chutkan particularly raised concerns over Trump’s statements calling special counsel Jack Smith a deranged thug.

    “I cannot imagine any other criminal case where a defendant is allowed to call a prosecutor deranged or a thug,” she said.

    “I will not permit it here simply because the defendant is running a political campaign,” Chutkan added.

    A Trump campaign spokesperson connected the decision to President Biden immediately after the ruling was made, who had no role in the decision or in Trump’s court cases, and called the ruling “an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy.”

    “President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American people’s right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement,” the spokesperson said in a statement shared by the campaign.

    Trump Sues Ex-spy Over Debunked Dossier

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    5
    Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Former President Donald Trump suing the ex-spy responsible for the now-discredited Steele Dossier that detailed intel on potential links between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.

    The Hill reports that Trump’s lawyers filed suit in Britain against Orbis Business Intelligence, the company founded by Christopher Steele, a former MI6 agent who published a 35-page dossier including uncorroborated claims that Trump’s campaign and Russian agents conspired to influence the 2016 U.S. election.

    Hugh Tomlinson, a lawyer for Trump who appeared before a judge at London’s High Court on Monday, alleged the company violated British data protection laws and has “suffered personal and reputational damage and distress” as a result.

    The former president has repeatedly claimed the dossier was “fake news” and a political witch hunt following the 2016 presidential election.

    Steele, who led the Russia desk for MI6 — formally known as the Secret Intelligence Service — is looking to have the lawsuit dismissed during two days of hearings at London’s High Court, per AP reports.

    Steele’s dossier has since been largely discredited and determined to be funded by Democrats during the 2016 presidential election. 

    While the dossier itself was not the basis for the FBI’s probe into Trump’s alleged ties to Russia, the report was heavily involved with the investigation led by former special counsel Robert Mueller.

    McCarthy Predicts Jordan Will Win Speaker’s Gavel

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    2
    House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy delivers remarks at the 2021 Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Washington DC, December 1, 2021. USDA Forest Service photo by Tanya E. Flores.

    Kevin McCarthy said he thinks Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan will ultimately become the next Speaker of the House.

    The California Republican made the prediction on Fox News almost two weeks after the House voted to remove him from the role, leaving Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) as speaker pro tempore while a possible government shutdown looms and Israel goes to war with Hamas.

    “I did walk in with more support during this time, but I believe, at the end of the day, Jim can get there. And I’m doing everything I can to help him be able to become speaker,” McCarthy told anchor Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

    While Democrats are pushing for a coalition to elect a new speaker, which Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) indicated would include rules changes “to facilitate bipartisanship,” Jordan’s backers say they don’t want to resort to making concessions.

    “Some Republicans want to cut a deal with Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries to elect a Speaker. With Democrats controlling the White House and the Senate, we must not give up control of the House,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) said in a post to X on Sunday. “Republicans should unite behind Jim Jordan as our Speaker of the House!”

    With reports on Sunday indicating that a floor vote could happen as early as Tuesday, McCarthy said Jordan is busy trying to shore up support.

    “I talked to Jim last night. He’s talking to every single member, assessing what their challenges are. But we have got to be able to work together,” McCarthy said.

    Ex-IRS Consultant Pleads Guilty After Leaking Trump Tax Info

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    2
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    A former contractor for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) pleaded guilty to intentionally leaking former President Trump’s and others tax information between 2018 and 2020.

    According to the Justice Department, Charles Littlejohn, 38, disclosed the tax returns of “thousands of the nation’s wealthiest individuals” to news organizations and tax information associated with a “high-ranking government official” to a second news outlet.

    However, Trump is not named in the complaint. 

    Attorney General Merrick Garland said that Littlejohn “betrayed the public’s trust” by stealing confidential information.

    “By using his role as a government contractor to gain access to private tax information, steal that information, and disclose it publicly, Charles Littlejohn broke federal law and betrayed the public’s trust,” said Attorney Garland. “In every case, the Department of Justice is committed to following the facts wherever they lead and holding accountable those who violate our laws.”

    Littlejohn accessed tax returns associated with Public Official A – and related individuals and entities – on an IRS database after using broad search parameters designed to conceal the true purpose of his queries. He then evaded IRS protocols established to detect and prevent large downloads or uploads from IRS devices or systems. Littlejohn then saved the tax returns to multiple personal storage devices, including an iPod, before contacting News Organization 1. Between around August 2019 and October 2019.

    He pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax return and return information on Thursday.

    Fox News reported that the two organizations were the New York Times and Pro Publica, a New York City-based nonprofit investigative journalism group.

    Littlejohn faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

    Kushner Says Schumer Told Family Friends He Was Going To Jail

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    9
    Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer attend medal ceremony via Wikimedia Commons

    Former adviser to Donald Trump, Jared Kushner says that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told close friends that the former President’s son-in-law was likely headed to jail over his links to the now-debunked conspiracy Trump’s 2016 colluded with Russia.

    “My poor mom, I told her to stop, you know reading whatever, I said, ‘I promise you, we didn’t do anything wrong, it’s good,’” Kushner said on the Lex Fridman Podcast. “But you know, she’d call me say, well you know, ‘our friends were on the Upper East Side were talking with Chuck Schumer who says Jared’s going to jail.’”

    Kushner attended a now-infamous meeting between Donald Trump Jr., former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and a woman described as a Russian government lawyer offering dirt on Hillary Clinton.

    Kushner said on the podcast that he didn’t take the allegations “too seriously” at first, because he felt there were “no underlying problems to the accusation.”

    “I felt like this is one of those things where they’re going to try and catch you and then if you step on the line, they catch with one misrepresentation, they’re gonna try to put you in jail or worse … and so, for me, that was a big concern,” Kushner said.

    He said he probably spent more than 20 hours testifying before different committees and spent millions of dollars “out of my own pocket” on legal fees.

    “This is like a leading senator saying these things and so it was just interesting for me to see how the whole world could believe something and be talking about it that I knew with 1,000 percent certainty was just not true,” Kushner said of Schumer. “And so seeing that play out was very, very hard.”

    1...646566...106Page 65 of 106
    © Great America News Desk 2022