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    Marjorie Taylor Greene Mulls Senate Run, Being Potential Trump VP Pick

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    3
    Marjorie Taylor Greene -Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, via Wikimedia Commons

    Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is considering some big career changes.

    The MAGA firebrand is openly considering a future run for Senate after being kicked off the conservative House Freedom Caucus after a heated disagreement with Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert.

    “I haven’t made up my mind whether I will do that or not. I have a lot of things to think about,” she said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published Wednesday.

    While Green has yet to make any final decisions, former President Donald Trump has also openly pushed for Greene to run for Senate

    “Marjorie Taylor Greene, you happen to be here. Would you like to run for the Senate? I will fight like hell for you, I tell you,” he said during a Texas rally in March.

    Greene later said she hadn’t thought about it, but told NBC News that “it was so nice of him to say.”

    However, the MAGA Congresswoman hinted that she has her eye on a higher office than the Senate.

    “Am I going to be a part of President Trump’s Cabinet if he wins? Is it possible that I’ll be VP?” she said in the AJC interview. If Trump asked her to be his running mate, Greene said she’d consider it “very, very heavily.”

    District Judge Accused Elon Musk of Cozying Up to Trump by Resisting Search Warrant

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2

    Newly uncovered documents show that a U.S. district judge berated Twitter when the social media company, now known as X, resisted complying with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s search warrant for Donald Trump’s Twitter account.

    The search warrant showed that Twitter was fined $350,000 when the company delayed complying with it as it fought the nondisclosure order. (RELATED: Special Counsel Obtains Warrant for Trump’s Twitter Account)

    Politico’s Kyle Cheney reported on the unsealed filings describing the data Smith’s search warrant sought from the former president’s old account. This included Trump’s DMs, location information, draft tweets, and a list of all his liked, favorited, and retweeted tweets, including deleted ones.

    This was a recurring subject throughout the dispute as Howell called out Twitter’s attempts to defend Trump’s First Amendment rights after his lengthy suspension from the platform. This coincided with Howell asking Twitter attorney George Varghese “Is this to make Donald Trump feel like he is a particularly welcomed new renewed user?”

    The documents also show Howell and Twitter’s legal team deliberated on whether Trump’s DMs could fall under executive privilege. Howell also pressed Twitter’s lawyers on the concerns held by prosecutors that their investigation would be put at risk if Twitter disclosed the search warrant’s existence.

    Manhattan Judge Refuses To Recuse Himself from Case Despite Concerning Past Political Contributions

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    7
    Gage Skidmore Flickr

    The Manhattan judge overseeing the hush money case against former President Donald Trump has refused to step away from the case despite his past contributions to Democrats

    Merchan rejected the arguments and referenced findings from the New York State Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, which he consulted prior to Trump’s recusal request.

    Judge Juan Merchan affirmed his ability to be “fair and impartial” in an opinion rejecting arguments from Trump’s legal team stating that he should recuse himself, according to Fox News.

    “We see nothing in the inquiry to suggest that the outcome of the case could have any effect on the judge’s relative, the relative’s business, or any of their interests,” the advisory committee wrote.

    Regarding the allegations of personal bias, Merchan said Trump’s team had failed to make a substantive argument.

    “Defendant has failed to demonstrate that there exists concrete, or even realistic reasons for recusal to be appropriate, much less required on these grounds,” Merchan wrote. “The speculative and hypothetical scenarios offered by Defendant fall well short of the legal standard.”

    Merchan donated $15 to then-candidate Joe Biden’s campaign, $10 to the Progressive Turnout Project and $10 to Stop Republicans during the 2020 election cycle.

    Georgia Judge Rules Cameras Will Be Allowed in Courtroom if Trump Indicted

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    6

    This is big…

    A judge in Fulton County, Georgia – where a grand jury is contemplating indicting former President Trump – ruled Monday morning to allow cameras in the courtroom if and when such an indictment occurs.

    Monday morning, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis launched the presentation of her case to a grand jury regarding Trump and several “co-conspirators'” efforts to overturn the election in Georgia.

    Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney is in court this week to preside over both Willis’ grand jury proceedings and other routine court matters. Monday morning, he instructed reporters and curious members of the public who were present in his courtroom about what to expect.

    “If a grand jury presents an indictment, that’s usually in the afternoon, and you can film and photograph that,” said McBurney.

    According to a report by The Messenger, “at least part” of the indictment “may be televised.”

    If the grand jury votes to indict, be it on Monday or Tuesday, the indictment will be walked over from Willis’ office to the county courthouse by a representative of the clerk’s office, the Fulton County sheriff’s office and the grand jury.

    It will be presented to McBurney to sign and be made public. The names of jurors will also be made public at that time.

    If an indictment happens on Monday or Tuesday, expect it to be in the afternoon, and the media’s cameras in the courtroom will be allowed to film the moment it is made public, McBurney said.

    There will not, however, be an out loud reading of the documents, he said.

    “There’s no reading of anything.” There’s also no heads up for the judge of whether that indictment is coming until it’s presented to him.

    According to Mediate, during his New York indictment, a photographer was permitted in the courtroom to capture a few still photos, but no video was allowed. Federal courts have long resisted allowing any sort of photography or video in their proceedings, although the unique historical nature of a former president’s indictments have increased calls for that policy to change, at least for Trump’s cases.

    Trump, Co-defendants Plead Not Guilty to Additional Mar-a-Lago Charges

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

    On Thursday, former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty via his attorneys in a second court appearance after Justice Department lawyers brought additional charges in the Mar-a-Lago case.

    The arraignment follows a superseding indictment in the case that named Trump as a central figure in an attempt to delete surveillance footage captured at Mar-a-Lago.

    According to reports from The Hill, Trump’s co-defendant in the case Walt Nauta, Trump’s valet, pleaded not guilty. Another co-defendant, Carlos De Oliveira, a property manager at Mar-a-Lago, entered no plea as he has not yet secured a Florida-based attorney.

    The indictment notes a lengthy call between Trump and De Oliveira shortly after the Justice Department indicated its interest in the security tapes. The indictment also prompted another Espionage Act charge.

    De Oliveira then allegedly set about determining how long security footage was stored on the Mar-a-Lago system. It says he later told another Mar-a-Lago employee that “‘the boss’ wanted the server deleted.”

    The indictment also described De Oliveira and Nauta organizing their plans secretly, apparently walking among the bushes around the IT office where the security footage was managed.

    At another point, De Oliveira and Nauta “walked with a flashlight through the tunnel where the storage room was located, and observed and pointed out security cameras.

    Trump Refuses to Sign RNC Loyalty Pledge, Hints at Attending First Debate

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    7
    Former President of the United States Donald Trump speaking with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. [Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons]

    Former President Donald Trump is in it to win it.

    On Wednesday the former President and current GOP frontrunner said he will not sign the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) pledge required to participate in the first debate.

    The RNC has said for candidates to participate in the first primary debate hosted by Fox News they must sign a pledge stating that they will support the eventual party nominee in 2024.

    “I wouldn’t sign the pledge. Why would I sign a pledge if there are people on there that I wouldn’t have. I wouldn’t have certain people as somebody that I would endorse,” Trump told Eric Bolling on Newsmax, declining to specify who he would not endorse.

    The former president told Bolling that he would announce next week whether he will attend the debate. So far Trump has been adamant he will skip the debate due to his commanding lead in the polls.

    “I’ve already decided, and I’ll be announcing something next week,” Trump said.

    “I haven’t totally ruled it out,” he added.

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who is running in second place behind Trump in most polls, signed the loyalty pledge earlier Wednesday.

    On Thursday, GOP presidential candidate Nikkie Haley signed the “Beat Biden” pledge as well but with one importnent change. Haley crossed out President Biden’s name in the pledge and wrote, “President Harris,” signaling that she believes this race is not against Biden in the long run and instead against Vice President Kamala Harris.

    Fox Business Network announced it will host the second Republican presidential debate.

    Georgia Lt. Gov. Subpoenaed In Trump Election Case

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    5
    Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

    Former Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan has confirmed he has been subpoenaed to testify before a Fulton County grand jury this month. 

    Duncan confirmed a CNN report on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, that was subpoenaed to testify in the grand jury probe into whether the former president and his supporters violated Georgia law with their alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. 

    “I can confirm this is true,” Duncan posted on X. “I will continue to share the facts as I know them around this investigation in hopes of figuring out what really happened.”

    Duncan, who served as the lieutenant governor of Georgia from 2019 to 2023, has been an outspoken critic of the former president. In a post Sunday, he said, “History shows us that almost everyone associated with Trump ends up regretting it,” listing Trump’s business partners, investors and employees as examples.

    Last week, Fulton County DA Fani Willis (D) indicated that her investigation has concluded and charging decisions will be made by September 1. (RELATED: Georgia DA Says Trump Investigation Is Concluded ‘We’re Ready To Go’)

    The yearslong investigation has focused heavily on a phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger when the former president asked him to “find” 11,780 votes to overturn President Biden’s victory in the election.

    Judge Dismisses Trump’s Counterclaim Against E. Jean Carroll

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    5
    Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

    On Monday, a federal judge dismissed former President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against writer E. Jean Carroll.

    According to The Hill, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed Trump’s argument Carroll defamed him last May, ruling Carroll’s statement made on a cable network was substantially true and “[t]here would have been no different effect on the mind of an average listener.”

    “The difference between Ms. Carroll’s allegedly defamatory statements — that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as defined in the New York Penal Law — and the ‘truth’ — that Mr. Trump forcibly digitally penetrated Ms. Carroll — is minimal. Both are felonious sex crimes,” Kaplan ruled.

    Kaplan, a Clinton appointee, separately rejected Trump’s defense that he has “absolute presidential immunity” in the case.

    Trump attorney Alina Habba said the former president would be filing an appeal shortly, calling it a “flawed decision.”

    “We are pleased that the Court dismissed Donald Trump’s counterclaim,” Carroll attorney Robbie Kaplan said in a statement.

    “That means that the January 15th jury trial will be limited to a narrow set of issues and shouldn’t take very long to complete,” she continued. “E. Jean Carroll looks forward to obtaining additional compensatory and punitive damages based on the original defamatory statements Donald Trump made in 2019.”

    Trump Attorney Addresses Jan. 6 Plea Deal Speculation

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    4
    Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Former President Trump’s attorney John Lauro says there is no chance he will accept a plea deal in connection with the federal Jan. 6 case.

    After being charged with four federal counts related to Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election last week Trump’s attorney joined CBS News’ “Face The Nation” to discuss the case. Lauro told host Major Garrett there was no condition where Trump would accept a plea deal.

    When asked if he planned to file a motion to dismiss the case, Lauro said he “absolutely” plans to, but did not reveal exact details.

    “Hundred percent. Well, within the time permitted,” Lauro said. “This is what’s called a Swiss cheese indictment. It has so many holes that we’re going to be identifying and litigating a number of motions that we’re going to file on First Amendment grounds, on the fact that President Trump is immune as president from being prosecuted in this way.”

    Lauro also said that cases similar to this case brought against Trump do not go to trial “before two or three years.” He also emphasized how he will be pushing to change the venue, saying West Virginia would be an “excellent venue to try this case

    “Well, the problem with bringing a case like this in the middle of a campaign season is statements are going to be made in the context of a campaign,” he said. “We expect a fair and just trial in the District of Columbia. And — and my role — my role is simply to ensure that President Trump’s rights, just like every American’s rights, are protected every step of the way, and I’m going to do that.”

    Trump Asks Supreme Court to ‘Intercede’ in Legal Fights

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    5
    Duncan Lock, Dflock, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

    Former President Trump wants the Supreme Court to intervene in his mounting legal challenges.

    Hours after the former president appeared in a Washington, D.C. courtroom on Thursday for his arraignment to enter his not-guilty plea to the four charges he is facing in Jan. 6 case he called on the Supreme Court to intercede in the political witch hunt against him.

    Trump in a post also said the multiple cases against him will require “massive amounts” of time and money and force him to use resources on court battles that could have been used for advertisements and rallies. 

    “I am leading in all Polls, including against Crooked Joe, but this is not a level playing field. It is Election Interference, & the Supreme Court must intercede. MAGA!” Trump said.

    He has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.

    The indictment marked the third filed against Trump in the past few months.

    Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and maintained that he is being prosecuted for political purposes because of his position as the frontrunner for the GOP nomination for president in 2024. Trump has dominated the polls since announcing his campaign.

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