“When I walked in the door at CNN in 2008, I was 25 years old and had never been on live TV. Green is an understatement!” Harlow said in an internal note to colleagues that was obtained by Vanity Fair. “I passed those three iconic red letters in the hall on day one and thought how lucky I was to be here.”
“There’s been plenty written about what’s wrong with journalism, and the challenges our industry faces,” she wrote. “And it does. But there is also so much right with it. At the heart of everything we do is the pursuit of truth – it is the core of CNN. I remain CNN’s biggest fan and I’ll be watching and cheering you on every day.”
She did not reveal her future plans, saying only, “For now, my plan is to walk our children to school and pick them up (hopefully they won’t get sick of me!), and to support the evolution of journalism in every way I can, while preserving the human(ity) in it.”
NEWS: CNN anchor Poppy Harlow announced she is leaving the network after 16 years.
Harlow said she was offered a new role at the network, but declined, leading to her departure. pic.twitter.com/KezhTAfleM
Judge Lewis Kaplan issued a scathing opinion Thursday afternoon, ripping apart former President Donald Trump‘s legal argument to avoid paying E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million.
A New York jury found Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation against Carroll in May 2023. Carroll was initially awarded $5 million. However, the presidential front-runner later called Carroll “crazy” and a “liar” leading to further civil damages against Trump, including $7.3 million in emotional harm, $11 million in “reputational repair” and $65 million in punitive damages.
In his opinion, Kaplan wrote:
Mr. Trump’s argument is entirely without merit both as a matter of law and as a matter of fact for all of the reasons articulated in Ms. Carroll’s memorandum of law in opposition to his motion. Among other things, it ignores the fact that, as the jury and/or the Court concluded, Mr. Trump’s…statements were false, defamatory, and made with both actual and common law malice. It ignores the fact that those defamatory statements were viewed between at least 85 to 104 million times…It ignores as well the fact that the jury was entitled to believe Ms. Carroll’s testimony as to the impact of the…statements on her. And it ignores the lack of any persuasive legal authority supporting Mr. Trump’s contention. Indeed, the law is clear that when competing theories and evidence are presented at trial, the issue of causation ultimately is one for the jury, which the Court should not ordinarily disturb.
In short, the argument — which Mr. Trump previously made to the the jury, conspicuously without success, and which defies common sense — does not warrant dismissal as a matter of law.
Kaplan ended on a blistering note: “Accordingly, Mr. Trump’s motions for a new trial and for a judgment as a matter of law are DENIED.”
Breaking
Trump LOSES his bid for a new trial or a judgment overturning the more than $80 million verdict for E. Jean Carroll in the second trial.
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America,
It’s not looking good…
In an interview with Newsmax on Wednesday night, Alina Habba sounded less than optimistic about her client Donald Trump’s chances of prevailing in his New York criminal case.
Trump is being charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to make alleged hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
Appearing on Wednesday’s Greg Kelly Reports, Habba was asked about the proceedings.
“How are you and what do you think tonight about everything?” Greg Kelly asked his guest.
Habba struck a tone of resignation:
…I don’t have hopes really that high at this moment that the New York courts will do the right thing, that the jury will do the right thing. We’re in a blue state, as you know, Greg. And I think everything’s by design. We’re in a case that was eight years old, over the statute of limitations, was denied by [former Manhattan District Attorney] Cy Vance, then brought only after President Trump decided he was going to run for office.
“It’s very troubling,” she added. “We’re in the fight of our lives at this moment.”
Trump’s attorney Alina Habba: “They try and make attorneys on the [Trump] team look or seem like they don't know what they're doing” pic.twitter.com/iWYuGFAIGO
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) April 24, 2024
The latest Bloomberg News/Morning Consult survey shows former President Donald Trump leading his successor in six of seven all-important swing states.
Responses from a substantial sample of around 5,000 registered voters reveal Trump leading in Arizona (49% to 42%), Georgia (49% to 43%), Nevada (51% to 43%), North Carolina (51% to 41%), Pennsylvania (47% to 46%) and Wisconsin (48% to 44%). The poll shows President Biden leads Trump by 2 points in Michigan (47% to 45%).
Seventy percent of respondents said the economy was heading in an unfavorable direction. A further 82% said the state of the economy would be of “great importance” in influencing their vote.
America’s News Desk breaks down the results even further:
Additionally, 54% of Americans hold the belief that inflation will worsen by the end of the year, while 17% are of the opinion that it will improve.
Under the Biden administration, inflation has persisted at a high level, resulting in consumers facing increased costs for essential items such as food and gasoline.
Last month, a political action group supporting Trump unveiled a website called “Biden-Mart” that focuses on the significant rise in food costs.
Deep economic pessimism and Biden’s inverted favorability ratings more than make up for Trump’s 43.4% average favorability rating, according to the latest polls.
Article Published With The Permission of American Liberty News.
An Arizona grand jury charged top 2020 Trump campaign aides and lawyers alongside 11 so-called “fake electors” on Wednesday over their efforts to alter the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in the state.
The indictment lists the 11 fake electors, but redacted the names of seven other individuals who were indicted following the investigation led by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D).
The Washington Post reported the names of those seven individuals as “former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman and Christina Bobb, top campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn and former campaign aide Mike Roman.”
The felony charges stem from the 11 Trump supporters gathering at the Arizona GOP’s headquarters following the 2020 election to sign fraudulent certifications claiming to be Arizona’s 11 official electors to the Electoral College, with the intent that their votes would eventually be counted for Donald Trump.
“They are accused of allegedly aiding an unsuccessful strategy to award the state’s electoral votes to Trump instead of Biden after the 2020 election,” the Postadded.
“In Arizona, and the United States, the people elected Joseph Biden as President on November 3, 2020,” the indictment reads.
“Unwilling to accept this fact, Defendants and unindicted coconspirators schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency to keep Unindicted Coconspirator 1 in office against the will of Arizona’s voters,” it continued, referring to Trump. “This scheme would have deprived Arizona voters of their right to vote and have their votes counted.”
Ex-Arizona Republican Party chairwoman Kelli Ward is among those charged for her role as a fake electoral. Politico’s Kyle Cheney noted that Trump himself is listed as an unindicted co-coconspirator.
Mayes released a video with the indictment.
“We conducted a thorough and professional investigation over the past 13 months into the fake electors scheme in our state. I understand for some of you today didn’t come fast enough. And I know I’ll be criticized by others for conducting this investigation at all. But as I’ve stated before, and we’ll say here again, today, I will not allow American democracy to be undermined.”
Santos was running to unseat Republican Rep. Nick LaLota who represents New York’s 1st Congressional District after being expelled last year.
“I have decided to withdraw from my independent run for NY-1,” Santos announced via social media on Tuesday. “I don’t want my run to be portrayed as a reprisal against Nick Lalota”
🚨Announcement!
I have decided to withdraw from my independent run for #NY1…
I don’t want my run to be portrayed as reprisal against Nick Lalota… Although Nick and I don’t have the same voting record and I remain critical of his abysmal record, I don’t want to split the…
“Although Nick and I don’t have the same voting record and I remain critical of his abysmal record, I don’t want to split the ticket and be responsible for handing the house to Dems,” Santos continued, citing r. “It is clear that with the rise of antisemitism in our country we cannot afford to hand the house to Dems as they have a very large issue with antisemitism in their ranks.”
Santos launched his independent campaign for NY-1 in March, despite having previously represented a different New York district.
Last December, the House of Representatives voted 311-114-2 to expel the Santos with 105 Republicans joining almost all Democrats. (RELATED: House Votes To Expel George Santos)
A scathing House Ethics report said there was clear evidence Santos committed serious crimes and said the New York Republican “blatantly stole from his campaign” and “deceived donors into providing what they thought were contributions to his campaign but were in fact payments for his personal benefit.”
His campaign committee reported zero expenditures and zero fundraising income in a filing to the Federal Elections Commission.
“The future holds countless possibilities and I am ready willing and able to step up to the plate and go fight for my country at anytime,” Santos said on Tuesday. “I will continue to participate in the public policy discussions and will do my part.”
He concluded, “I will always strive to stand on the right side of history. It’s only goodbye for now, I’ll be back.”
Article Published With The Permission of American Liberty News.
The U.S. Secret Service doesn’t know what to do about its “Trump problem.”
The Secret Service is tasked is protecting our current and former presidents, and regarding former President Donald Trump, the organization has reportedly already had meetings to plan how to handle his security if he ends up behind bars.
Trump is currently on trial in New York facing 34 felony counts for falsifying business records regarding alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
According to a report by ABC News, the Secret Service “held meetings and started planning for what to do if former President Donald Trump were to be held in contempt in his criminal hush money trial and Judge Juan Merchan opted to send him to short-term confinement,” citing as a source “officials familiar with the situation.”
During Tuesday’s arguments, prosecutors said they were “not yet seeking an incarceratory penalty,” asking Merchan to impose fines, but also highlighted Trump’s ongoing attacks and argued that he “seems to be angling for” being imprisoned.
The ABC News report added that the officials “do not necessarily believe Merchan would put Trump in a holding cell in the courthouse but they are planning for contingencies.” These sources added that the discussions had not yet gotten to the point of discussing what to do if Trump is convicted and sent to prison, in this case or in the other three criminal matters pending against the former President, including two federal cases and one in Georgia.
The Secret Service would not comment on specific discussions or plans for protecting Trump, but issued a statement:
Under federal law, the United States Secret Service must provide protection for current government leaders, former Presidents and First Ladies, visiting heads of state and other individuals designated by the President of the United States. For all settings around the world, we study locations and develop comprehensive and layered protective models that incorporate state of the art technology, protective intelligence and advanced security tactics to safeguard our protectees. Beyond that, we do not comment on specific protective operations.
The New York Times’reporting cited two sources saying that the “impromptu meeting” with federal, state, and city agencies to discuss how to manage imprisoning Trump was instigated by the prosecution’s arguments regarding the gag orders, specifically the request that Merchan expressly remind the former president he could, in fact, be thrown in jail for contempt.
The short-term incarceration Trump might face for violating a gag order would be in a courthouse holding cell, not a regular state jail or federal prison that he might find as his new address if he’s convicted in any of the cases against him.
“The far more substantial challenge — how to safely incarcerate a former president if the jury convicts him and the judge sentences him to prison rather than home confinement or probation — has yet to be addressed directly, according to some of a dozen current and former city, state and federal officials interviewed for this article,” reported the Times, adding that it would require “keeping him separate from other inmates, as well as screening his food and other personal items,” plus making accommodations for a rotating detail of Secret Service agents to protect him 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Despite the normal prohibition on firearms in prisons, Trump’s agents “would nonetheless be armed.”
The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley received more than 150,000 votes in the Pennsylvania GOP primary on Tuesday despite having dropped out of the race weeks ago.
The Hill reported the most recent election returns, from just after 9 a.m. Wednesday, show Haley with nearly 157,000 votes, enough for 16.6 percent of the total, with 90 percent of votes cast counted.
Former President Trump still easily won the primary, with more than 80 percent of the vote as of the latest count, and he will win all of Pennsylvania’s delegates in the winner-take-all primary. But Haley’s total is still a significant amount for a candidate who has not been in the race since early last month.
Despite Haley’s popularity among Republicans the former South Carolina Governor, she was unable to take a commanding lead over Trump.
Still, Haley on Tuesday appears to have reached or came close to 20 percent in several counties. Her showing may not have significantly impacted Trump taking the state on his way to officially becoming the Republican nominee, especially as he became the presumptive nominee last month after clinching enough delegates.
But it could indicate a reason for concern in the general election, in which Pennsylvania is one of the key battleground states that could determine the winner of the race. The polling average of the state from Decision Desk HQ/The Hill has Trump ahead of President Biden in the state by just 0.4 percent, meaning every vote may have added importance there compared to other states in November.
Haley has seen continued support over recent weeks in other states. She received more than 77,000 votes in the Georgia GOP primary in March a few days after she dropped out, more than 150,000 votes, or almost 20 percent, in the Washington Republican primary and more than 110,000 votes in the Arizona GOP primary.
Mary Trump‘s aversion to her famous uncle is well-known, but it’s not every day she compares him to one of America’s most infamous serial killers.
On national television.
Reflecting on the Stormy Daniels hush money case, Trump’s niece joined MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell to mock the lack of Trump supporters demonstrating outside the courthouse and the absence of the former president’s family inside the courtroom.
Several reporters also noticed their lack of attendance in the courtroom, asking the presumptive Republican nominee where Melania is.
Appearing on Monday’s edition of “The Last Word,” Mary and Larry mocked the presidential front-runner, saying that even Jeffrey Dahmer‘s parents attended his trial.
“This is something that I’ve never seen,” O’Donnell claimed. “Not actually made manifest in the courtroom, before Donald Trump‘s in that courtroom alone. Jeffrey Dahmer’s parents were there every single day. It is. It is very hard, to, to find a courtroom where the criminal defendant doesn’t have a relative sitting there in the front row.”
The younger Trump replied: “Yeah, well, I got a couple of things about that. First of all, it’s another example of how, he, he perverts systems or expectations. For anybody else, that would just be damning. Right. Just the way he talks about dogs would be damning.”
“How many times have we heard that his bizarre behavior, that, that he engages in bizarre behaviors or just doesn’t conform in a way that, that a, a reasonably well-adjusted human being would?”
“But like everything else about him, it just kind of gets baked in,” she continued. “Right.”
“But it is. Let’s, it’s worth, pausing, about how under. Unfair on. Unreal. Bizarre. Strange. Unacceptable. Weird. Whatever adjective you want to use, it is that he is there alone in terms of friends and family,” her assessment continued.
“I think it is worth pointing out… One. I don’t think he cares. I don’t think it matters to him. That is not where he gets his energy. That is not what gives him solace to the extent that anything does,” Trump opined. “He’s more upset about the fact that there aren’t more people outside protesting on his behalf. Right.”
“But it also points to, the bizarre thing about my family that every transaction in this family is a transactional one,” the estranged niece continued. “I’m sorry. Every relationship, I should say, is a transactional one. His kids have decided, for whatever reason, that it’s not worth their time for them to be in that courtroom because they’re not going to get anything out of it. That’s, that’s the way this family rolls.”
Article Published With The Permission of American Liberty News
On Tuesday, the New York judge presiding over Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial will deliver a ruling over the recently imposed gag order.
Ahead of Judge Merchan’s ruling, Trump blasted the controversial gag order in a Truth Social post.
“HIGHLY CONFLICTED, TO PUT IT MILDLY, JUDGE JUAN MERCHAN, HAS TAKEN AWAY MY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH,” Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after arguments over the gag order concluded. “EVERYBODY IS ALLOWED TO TALK AND LIE ABOUT ME, BUT I AM NOT ALLOWED TO DEFEND MYSELF. THIS IS A KANGAROO COURT, AND THE JUDGE SHOULD RECUSE HIMSELF!”
Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office claim Trump has so far violated the order barring him from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, court staff, and the judge’s family 10 times. They are asking the judge to fine Trump $1,000 for each violation.
Trump is being charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to make alleged hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
The purported violations were mainly posted to Trump’s Truth Social, where he has made comments about potential witnesses in recent days. The gag order does not prevent Trump from attacking the judge or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D).
One post, made on April 10, thanked an ex-lawyer to porn actress Stormy Daniels for “revealing the truth about two sleazebags who have, with their lies and misrepresentations, cost our Country dearly.”
The “sleazebags” in question were Daniels and Trump’s ex-fixer and personal attorney, Michael Cohen — both expected to be prominent witnesses in the district attorney’s case.
Another post maligns Cohen as a “disgraced attorney and felon…prosecuted for lying” and suggested that an ex-Manhattan prosecutor who once oversaw the investigation into Trump, Mark Pomerantz, should be “prosecuted for his terrible acts in and out of the D.A.’s office.”
Trump has appealed the gag order, arguing it is an unconstitutional violation of his First Amendment rights, but it remains in effect as of now.
