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Ex-Superior Court Judge Calls For Putting Trump ‘In a Jail Cell’ 

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Image via Pixabay

Yikes.

A former judge told CNN on Sunday that Donald Trump should be jailed if he violates the latest gag order.

CNN anchor Omar Jimenez spoke with former Superior Court Judge LaDoris Cordell as his guest on Sunday to discuss Trump’s latest social media attacks on New York Judge Juan Merchan and his family.

Cordell said that after going through the initial steps of warnings and fines, it was time for Trump to face what any other American would face in his situation if he violates another gag order: jail time.

According to Mediaite, Jimenez noted that Trump was “testing the limits” of his gag order, with Cordell agreeing that “he’s tiptoeing very close to the line.” However, Jimenez pointed out that Trump was not known for his restraint and asked, “What happens when Trump breaks that gag order on Truth Social or otherwise?”

[Y]ou said “when” and not “if,” and I think you’re right, Omar. When he steps across then gag order line, and I do hope that will be expanded, there should be only one response: “Bring your toothbrush, Donald Trump, because you’re going to sit in a jail cell for a while.” There has to be an immediate consequence when he defies a court order. That is a normal response. You cannot have a court system that is subjected to these kinds of threats and intimidation. Nowhere else has this ever happened and gone on without any consequences, and that has to change, and it has to change now.

Prior to that, Cordell explained that Trump’s threats are never empty and that the lives of the people he names in his posts are genuinely at risk:

What people should know, first off, is that this is not normal. Attacks upon our legal system, attacks on judges, witnesses, jurors, court staff, lawyers, and their families, it’s not normal. I’ve presided over thousands of hearings and trials during my nearly 20 years as a trial judge, and never did any defendants in my courtroom show such disrespect for the court system as was shown by Donald Trump. And occasionally I had to warn a defendant to conduct himself properly, but a warning was usually sufficient. In this instance, Trump’s words are clearly intended to intimidate, threaten, and incite violence against the people he names in the words coming out of his mouth and on social media.

So what he’s doing, he’s literally thumbing his nose at the courts, and he’s making a mockery of the legal system. And we know this because he has cautioned, he has never once, never cautioned his followers to abstain from making threats and otherwise attack his targets. He wants to put people in fear for their lives by having his followers do his dirty work. So almost the job of a trial judge is to ensure a fair trial for both sides and to manage the courtroom to ensure law and order. So when you have a disrupter like Donald Trump, judges have tools to rein them in. They have warnings, you got fines, you got gag orders, you got incarceration. And warnings and fines haven’t worked with Trump.

Report: Trump Narrows VP Search Down to Two Candidates

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

The highly awaited announcement is coming soon…

According to a report from The New York Post, Donald Trump is now seriously considering two candidates to become his running mate.

Barring a last-minute surprise, the sources say, the 67-year-old Burgum and the 39-year-old Vance are the clear front-runners for the GOP’s VP slot, with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) still having an outside shot.

Other rumored options, such as Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, were dismissed as having little chance of being picked — with one source going so far as to say there was “no way” Trump, 78, would tap Carson.

The New York Post has more:

“It would honestly make no sense,” one source said.

One source close to Trump gave a slight edge to Burgum being the 45th president’s running mate, saying the North Dakotan had a 50-50 chance of being selected and Vance had a 30% chance, with Rubio and the field each having a 10% percent chance.

A different source close to the Trump campaign said the choice was “gonna be JD, Marco or Burgum” and that they didn’t “see a scenario where one of those three doesn’t end up getting it.”

“I would give Burgum and JD a little more of an edge than Marco,” the source added, handicapping that “Marco still has a shot” and that “Burgum and JD have an equal shot.”

“JD because that’s who Don Jr. and Trump’s inner orbit seem to be pushing for,” this person said. “Donors [are] pushing Burgum for stability.”

However, Rubio is reportedly scheduled to be at Trump’s Doral, Fla., rally on Tuesday night and changed his schedule at the last minute to ensure he would make it.

Trump is having another rally in western Pennsylvania on Saturday, potentially giving him a prime opportunity to announce Vance, who reps neighboring Ohio, as his choice.

Trump Faces Judge After Special Counsel Delivers Jan. 6 Indictment

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Former President Trump will plead “not guilty” in federal court to all four federal charges stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into 2020 election interference and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump traveled from his resort in Bedminster, N.J., Thursday to Washington D.C. His first court appearance took place at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. 

Trump, the current 2024 GOP front-runner, was charged earlier this week with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

Trump posted to his Truth Social late Wednesday saying that the case “will hopefully be moved to an impartial Venue, such as the politically unbiased nearby State of West Virginia!” 

“IMPOSSIBLE to get a fair trial in Washington, D.C., which is over 95% anti-Trump, & for which I have called for a Federal TAKEOVER in order to bring our Capital back to Greatness,” Trump posted. “It is now a high crime embarrassment to our Nation and, indeed, the World. This Indictment is all about Election Interference!!!” 

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

Trump Accepts Invitation From King Charles For Second UK State Visit

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President Donald Trump takes questions after signing Executive Orders, Tuesday, February 18, 2025, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok) President Donald Trump signs Executive Orders, Tuesday, February 18, 2025, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)

President Donald Trump accepted an invitation on Thursday from King Charles III for a second state visit to the United Kingdom.

The invite came in a letter presented to Trump by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is meeting with Trump at the White House regarding ending the war in Ukraine.

Watch:

“This is really special. This has never happened before. This is unprecedented,” Starmer said as he was sitting next to Trump in the Oval Office. 

“I think that just symbolizes the strength of the relationship between us. This is a very special letter. I think the last state visit was a tremendous success,” he continued. “His majesty the king wants to make this even better than that.” 

“What I haven’t got yet is your answer,” Starmer then said, drawing laughs. 

“The answer is yes, on behalf our wonderful First Lady Melania and myself, the answer is yes and we look forward to being there and honoring the king and honoring really your country,” Trump responded. “Your country is a fantastic country.

Starmer said he would “happily” take Trump’s acceptance of the invite to King Charles III.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Congress Elects House Speaker

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On Friday, Congressional lawmakers convened to elect the next Speaker of the House.

Mike Johnson (R-La.) will serve as Speaker of the House for the 119th Congress.

With the Republican majority at 219-215, Johnson could lose only one Republican vote to remain speaker.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was reelected to the top post in the House in a stunning floor vote on the opening day of Congress on Friday, securing the gavel on the first ballot.

It appeared that he would fail on the first ballot as Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Keith Self (R-Texas) voted for other candidates. However, the chamber held the vote open as Johnson conferred with his opponents and Norman and Self switched their votes to applause in the chamber.

The vote came after President-elect Donald Trump issued his “total” endorsement of Mike Johnson (R-la.) earlier this week.

“Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement. MAGA!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also offered her endorsement of Johnson shortly before Friday’s vote.

Watch:

“Tomorrow we convene at noon in the House of Representatives, and our first order of business will be to vote for Speaker of the House. This is a historic vote, and it is the first order of business that we have to accomplish before we can even swear in as members of Congress,” began Greene. “Now, here’s how I feel about it. You all have seen may disagree with Mike Johnson at times. You’ve seen me fight against him at times. But you want to know something else? Here’s what I recognize: For the past four years, all of you and myself included, have put blood, sweat, and tears into electing President Trump. And when you want to talk about blood, President Trump himself actually was the one that shed blood after an assassin shot him in the face.”

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Report: FBI Investigating Trump Campaign Hack

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Image via Gage Skidmore Flickr

The FBI has confirmed it’s investigating after the Trump campaign said it was hacked and some internal documents were leaked.

“We can confirm the FBI is investigating this matter,” the agency said in an email, declining to respond to other questions from The Hill.

An Iran-baked group “sent a spear phishing email in June to a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign from the compromised email account of a former senior advisor,” the company said.

The confirmation of the investigation is a shift for the FBI, which said over the weekend only that it was aware of the hacking allegations through news reports.

U.S. agencies have thus far failed to comment on the claims that Iran was responsible for the hack, even as recent intelligence community reports have noted growing Iranian efforts to influence the U.S. election.

“This is something we’ve raised for some time, raised concerns that Iranian cyber actors have been seeking to influence elections around the world including those happening in the United States,” John Kirby, the White House’s national security communications adviser, told reporters Monday. 

“These latest attempts to interfere in U.S. elections is nothing new for the Iranian regime, which from our vantage point has attempted to undermine democracies for many years now.”

A report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released last month noted Iranian efforts designed to “fuel distrust in U.S. political institutions and increase social discord.”

“The IC has observed Tehran working to influence the presidential election, probably because Iranian leaders want to avoid an outcome they perceive would increase tensions with the United States. Tehran relies on vast webs of online personas and propaganda mills to spread disinformation,” the report states, including being particularly active on exacerbating tensions over the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Intelligence agencies have also warned of an Iranian assassination plot targeting top U.S. officials like Donald Trump.

Gun Safe Manufacturer Cooperates With FBI, Promised ‘Bud Light Treatment’

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I, Aude, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

America’s leading manufacturer of firearms safes has been promised the “Bud Light Treatment” by social media users after the company posted to X – formerly Twitter- admitting that it allowed federal authorities to access a customer’s safe.

Payson, Utah-based gun safe manufacturer Liberty Safe issued a statement Tuesday evening noting that despite their actions, they were “committed to preserving customers’ rights, and remain unwavering in those values.”

Per Newsweek, the “safe belongs to Nathan Hughes, 34, of Arkansas, who has been charged with felony civil disorder and several misdemeanors in the January 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol. The company added that it was unaware of any details surrounding the case and that it has repeatedly denied requests for access codes when a warrant wasn’t present.”

Hughes appears to be friends with the Hodge Twins, a duo of conservative personalities who have a show on the network of conservative commentator Steven Crowder. The Hodge Twins shared a video earlier this week of the FBI raid on Hughes’ house.

Political commentator Justin Hart called the raid by the FBI “overkill”, and encouraged X users to review the FBI complaint filed against Hughes late last month and draw their own conclusions.

Amid an onslaught of social media backlash, Liberty Safe also turned off comments on the post which acknowledged their actions in complying with federal law enforcement.

Still, that didn’t keep X users from memeing the company using the likes of Bud Light and Dylan Mulvaney.

Other firearm safe manufacturers have also chimed in on the controversy, even though they have shied away from mentioning their competitors by name. Syracuse, New York-based manufacturer SecureIt Gun Storage noted in a release issued Wednesday afternoon that their safes are “not built with any override system.”

This is a developing news story. Refresh the page for the latest updates. Republished with permission from American Liberty News.

Illinois Republican Party Leader Resigns

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The chairman of the Illinois Republican Party has called it quits.

On Wednesday, state GOP chair Don Tracy said in his resignation notice that party infighting is largely to blame for his decision.

“When I took on this full-time volunteer job in February, 2021, I thought I would be spending most of my time fighting Democrats, helping elect Republicans, raising money to pay for more Party infrastructure, and advocating for Party unity,” state GOP chair Don Tracy wrote in his resignation notice.  

“Unfortunately, however, I have had to spend far too much time dealing with intra party power struggles, and local intra party animosities that continued after primaries and County Chair elections,” he continued.  

Tracy also noted the recent controversy involving former vice chair Mark Shaw at the Republican National Committee (RNC) election which resulted in his ouster.

“Recent events including the RNC Committeeman election, immediately followed by the retribution sacking of the losing candidate Vice-Chair Mark Shaw, a long time State Party leader and worker, without due process and without taking any step to disciplining others for alleged or admitted Convention misconduct, portends a direction of the State Party I am not comfortable with,” Tracy wrote.  

Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Tracy’s resignation comes less than a month before the Republican National Convention will be held in Milwaukee

In his letter, Tracy refuted claims that his resignation had already been reported by a Chicago Tribune story published the day before, where anonymous sources suggested to the news outlet that Tracy could soon see himself removed as well.  

“My resignation has nothing to do with today’s anonymously sourced Chicago Tribue article. I made my decision to resign early yesterday morning, communicated it to Matt Janes before our 10am staff call yesterday, and began drafting this notice yesterday shortly before or after the staff call,” Tracy wrote. 

Article Published With The Permission of American Liberty News.

Trump Hush Money Judge Responds To Latest Recusal Request

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Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

The New York judge who oversaw former President Trump’s criminal trial refused the latest request to recuse himself from the case over his daughter’s work for Democrats. 

It marks the third time that Judge Juan Merchan has refused to recuse himself, insisting there is no conflict and that he will remain on the case as it proceeds to sentencing in September. 

“Stated plainly, Defendant’s arguments are nothing more than a repetition of stale and unsubstantiated claims,” Merchan wrote in his ruling.

Despite being denied twice, Trump’s lawyers once again filed for Judge Merchan to recuse himself after Presdient Biden ended his re-election bid.

“Your Honor’s daughter has a long-standing relationship with Harris, including work for political campaigns. She has obtained — and stands to obtain in the future — extensive financial, professional, and personal benefits from her relationship with Harris,” Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in their request. 

But the judge spurned the accusation that he has a conflict, noting that a state ethics advisory committee last year provided guidance that he didn’t need to step aside.  

“This Court now reiterates for the third time, that which should already be clear – innuendo and mischaracterizations do not a conflict create. Recusal is therefore not necessary, much less required,” Merchan wrote.

The judge has, however, received a warning for making $35 total in political contributions to the Biden campaign and two liberal-leaning groups, including one called “Stop Republicans.” Though the donations occurred before Merchan took on Trump’s hush money case, ethics rules bar New York judges from making political contributions. 

“The acting Justice has consistently and recklessly displayed his personal bias against President Trump throughout the case, including issuing an illegal, unconstitutional, and election-interfering Gag Order against the President and his campaign, and admitting
constitutionally prohibited ‘evidence’ at trial,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement. “The Highly-Conflicted Judge should have long ago recused himself from this case.”

Trump Assassination Suspect Enters ‘Not Guilty’ Plea

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On Monday, the Florida man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty in court.

Ryan Routh, 58, appeared in federal court Monday to enter five not guilty pleas to counts including attempted assassination of a major political candidate and assault of a federal officer, after he allegedly poked a rifle through the perimeter of Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course, prompting a Secret Service agent to fire.  

Routh also pleaded not guilty to charges he possessed a firearm with an obliterated serial number despite being a convicted felon, in furtherance of a crime of violence. 

Prosecutors say Routh planned to kill Trump as he golfed on Sept. 15, staking out the perimeter of the course near its sixth hole for roughly 12 hours until he was noticed and fled. They revealed last week that Routh allegedly wrote a letter months before the assassination attempt detailing his plans.  

“Dear world, this was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you,” Routh wrote, according to the letter filed by prosecutors. “I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster.” 

Routh has been in custody since the incident and faces up to life in prison.  

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.