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Republican Senator Accuses Internet Rumors Of Fueling Opposition To Border Deal

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Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

A Republican leader in the Senate’s border security negotiations still believes the effort will pass Congress. Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) attributed rising opposition to the tentative deal to “internet rumors.”

“The challenge that Senator Cruz has and a bunch of other folks is they’re so waiting to be able to read the bill on this and this has been our great challenge of being able to fight through the final words to be able to get the bill text out so people can hear it,” said Lankford. “Right now, there’s internet rumors. It’s all that people are running. It would be absolutely absurd for me to agree to 5,000 people a day. This bill focuses on getting us to zero illegal crossings a day. There’s no amnesty. It increases a number of Border Patrol agents and it increases asylum officers. It increases detention beds so we can quickly detain and then deport individuals.”

“It ends catch-and-release. It focuses on additional deportation flights out. It changes our asylum process so that people can get a fast asylum screening at a higher standard and then get returned back to their home country. This is not about letting 5,000 people in a day. This is the most misunderstood section of this proposal. And let me tell you briefly what it is. You know, last four months, we’ve had seven days – in four months, we’ve had seven days that we had less than 5,000 people. This is set up if you have a rush of people coming at the border, the border closes down, no one gets in.”

Over the weekend, the Oklahoma Republican Party (OKGOP) state committee voted to censure Lankford for his role as the chief negotiator in the bipartisan border talks.

A copy of the resolution posted by state Sen. Dusty Reevers (R) states, “Senator Lankford playing fast and loose with Democrats on our border policy not only disfranchises legal immigrants seeking citizenship but it also puts the safety and security of Americans in great danger.”

Newsweek continues:

There were more than 2.4 million encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border during the 2023 fiscal year, up from roughly 1.7 million in 2021, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a proponent of stronger border control, constructed the razor-wire as a series of measures he says is intended to prevent illegal entry from Mexico into his state, which shares more than 1,200 miles of the border.

The Oklahoma state committee’s resolution said the OKGOP “strongly condemns Sen. James Lankford, if and to the extent that he continues these actions, and calls upon him to cease and desist jeopardizing the security and liberty of the people of Oklahoma and of these United States.”

It adds that until he “ceases from these actions, the Oklahoma Republican Party will cease all support for him.”

In a statement provided to Newsweek, OKGOP vice chairman Wayne Hill said the OKGOP state committee is “committed to holding elected Republicans accountable to the standards set forth in the OKGOP platform which supports limited legal immigration.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sent a letter to his colleagues Friday, stating that if reports on the legislation in the Senate are accurate, the bill will be “dead upon arrival” in the House.

Former President Donald Trump previously came out in opposition to the supplemental package.

This article originally appeared in American Liberty News. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk. Republished with permission.

Report: Conservative Network Shared Private Smartmatic Employee Data With Trump Team After 2020 Election

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Madeleine Jackson
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Gage Skidmore Flickr

Voting systems company Smartmatic is suing conservative media network One America News (OAN) and new evidence shows a direct connection to former President Donald Trump.

According to a report by CNN, an email exchange dated January 8, 2021, between OAN president Charles Herring and Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, who is also being sued by Smartmatic as well as other individuals tied to Trump for spreading misinformation about the 2020 election, purportedly contained a spreadsheet full of passwords for employees of Smartmatic.

The court records don’t reveal how OAN obtained the spreadsheet; according to CNN, lawyers for Smartmatic alleged the possession of the information means OAN executives “may have engaged in criminal activities” by “appear[ing] to have violated state and federal laws regarding data privacy.”

Per CNN:

While Smartmatic’s public filings didn’t identify the sender or recipient of the email, court records from a separate 2020-related lawsuit confirm that Herring and Powell exchanged emails on the same date. The pair’s communications about the purported Smartmatic spreadsheet, which have not been previously reported, resurrect questions that have dogged OAN for years regarding its tendency to blur the lines between opinion journalism and brazen political advocacy.

Smartmatic is seeking billions of dollars in damages from OAN and Fox News after the networks falsely claimed that the company flipped votes during the 2020 election.

Last year, Dominion Voting Systems won nearly $800 million in its similar defamation suit against Fox News.

Verdict Announced In Trump Defamation Case

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Madeleine Jackson
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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

The jury has returned with its verdict in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case against former President Donald Trump.

Trump left the courtroom earlier in the day as Carroll’s legal team was making its closing arguments.

The jury awarded her $83.3 million.

Trump Walks Out Of Court During Closing Arguments

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    Madeleine Jackson
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    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Trump is out!

    Donald Trump walked out of the Manhattan courtroom just after a lawyer for writer E. Jean Carroll had begun issuing closing remarks Friday.

    Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan is overseeing the ongoing sexual abuse defamation trial against the former President. Carroll is suing the former President for defamation over his 2019 denials that he sexually abused her decades earlier. The former Elle columnist secured a verdict last year finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and awarding her $5 million.

    Now, she’s seeking some $10 million in damages for Trump’s denials.

    According to The Hill, it’s unclear why Trump left the courtroom, though it occurred shortly after Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan said the former president “has tried to normalize conduct that is abnormal.”

    After Trump left, Judge Lewis Kaplan directed the defense — and, by name, adviser Boris Epshteyn — to remain seated, CNN and ABC News reported.

    “The record will reflect that Mr. Trump just rose and walked out of the courtroom,” said Kaplan, who is not related to Carroll’s lawyer.

    Earlier Friday morning, Kaplan called out Trump’s attorney Alina Habba for continuing to talk when he told her she was finished.

    “You are on the verge of spending some time in the lockup. Now sit down,” the judge told Habba.

    Trump Opposes RNC Plan To Name Him ‘Presumptive Nominee’

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    Madeleine Jackson
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    Ronna McDaniel via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Donald Trump wants to win the Republican nomination fair and square…

    On Thursday, former President Trump said he does not support efforts to pressure the Republican National Committee into declaring him a “presumptive nominee.”

    The former president made the remarks Thursday on his proprietary social media platform, Truth Social.

    “While I greatly appreciate the Republican National Committee (RNC) wanting to make me their PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE, and while they have far more votes than necessary to do it, I feel, for the sake of PARTY UNITY, that they should NOT go forward with this plan, but that I should do it the ‘Old Fashioned’ way, and finish the process off AT THE BALLOT BOX,” Trump wrote.

    Trump’s statement pushes back on efforts led by a former aide of his campaign, David Bossie — an RNC committee member who has urged Republicans to rally around the former president.

    The RNC was set to consider a resolution that, if approved, would have declared Trump to be the party’s presumptive nominee for president in 2024. Fox News Digital obtained a copy of the resolution before it was reportedly withdrawn

    In a statement, RNC spokesperson Keith Schipper said, “Resolutions, such as this one, are brought forward by members of the RNC. Chairwoman McDaniel doesn’t offer resolutions. This will be taken up by the Resolutions Committee, and they will decide whether to send this resolution to be voted on by the 168 RNC members at our annual meeting next week.”

    Biden Admin. Spied On Bank Accounts Of Trump Supporters

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    Donny Ferguson
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    Image via Pixabay free images.

    Americans who purchased Bibles, sporting goods or products associated with former President Donald Trump were flagged for surveillance by a federal government spy program, U.S. House investigators reveal.

    After the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, FBI officials told banks that Americans who support President Trump or express religious views may be suspected terrorists, and demanded banks report customers whose transactions indicated they may be political conservatives.

    Such blanket surveillance is prohibited by the United States Constitution, which requires the federal government to secure a warrant, based on probable cause, specifically naming the person targeted.

    “New documents obtained by the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government reveal that the federal government flagged terms like “MAGA” and “TRUMP” for financial institutions if Americans used those phrases when completing transactions,” the U.S. House Judiciary Committee revealed in a statement.

    “Individuals who shopped at stores like Cabela’s or Dick’s Sporting Goods, or purchased religious texts like a bible, may also have had their transactions flagged. This kind of pervasive financial surveillance, carried out in coordination with and at the request of federal law enforcement, into Americans’ private transactions is alarming and raises serious concerns about the FBI’s respect for fundamental civil liberties,” the Committee stated.

    In response, the Committee is demanding senior government officials appear for questioning.

    “In light of these revelations, Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) has requested transcribed interviews from Peter Sullivan, Senior Private Sector Partner for Outreach in the Strategic Partner Engagement Section of the FBI, and Noah Bishoff, former Director of the Office of Stakeholder Integration and Engagement in the Strategic Operations Division of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN),” the Committee reveals.

    Jordan’s letter to Noah Bishoff reads, in part: 

    “The Committee and Select Subcommittee have obtained documents indicating that following January 6, 2021, FinCEN distributed materials to financial institutions that, among other things, outline the ‘typologies’ of various persons of interest and provide financial institutions with suggested search terms and Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) for identifying transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement. These materials included a document recommending the use of generic terms like ‘TRUMP’ and ‘MAGA’ to ‘search Zelle payment messages’ as well as a ‘prior FinCEN analysis’ of ‘Lone Actor/Homegrown Violent Extremism Indicators.’ According to this analysis, FinCEN warned financial institutions of ‘extremism’ indicators that include ‘transportation charges, such as bus tickets, rental cars, or plane tickets, for travel to areas with no apparent purpose,’ or ‘the purchase of books (including religious texts) and subscriptions to other media containing extremist views.’ In other words, FinCEN urged large financial institutions to comb through the private transactions of their customers for suspicious charges on the basis of protected political and religious expression.

    “In addition, the Committee and Select Subcommittee have obtained documents showing that FinCEN distributed slides, prepared by a financial institution, explaining how other financial institutions can use MCC codes to detect customers whose transactions may reflect ‘potential active shooters, [and] who may include dangerous International Terrorists / Domestic Terrorists / Homegrown Violent Extremists (“Lone Wolves”).’ For example, the slides instruct financial institutions to query for transactions using certain MCC codes such as ‘3484: Small Arms,’ ‘5091: Sporting and Recreational Goods and Supplies,’ and the keywords ‘Cabela’s,’ and ‘Dick’s Sporting Goods,’ among several others. Despite these transactions having no apparent criminal nexus—and, in fact, relate to Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights—FinCEN seems to have adopted a characterization of these Americans as potential threat actors. This kind of pervasive financial surveillance, carried out in coordination with and at the request of federal law enforcement, into Americans’ private transactions is alarming and raises serious doubts about FinCEN’s respect for fundamental civil liberties.

    “As the former Director of the Office of Stakeholder Integration and Engagement in the Strategic Operations Division, you engaged regularly with financial institutions following the events of January 6, 2021, including the distribution of material about how financial institutions could use private customer information to assist federal law enforcement. As such, your testimony will aid our oversight. In particular, your testimony will help to inform the Committee and Select Subcommittee about federal law enforcement’s mass accumulation and use of Americans’ private information without legal process; FinCEN’s protocols, if any, to safeguard Americans’ privacy and constitutional rights in the receipt and use of such information; and FinCEN’s general engagement with the private sector on law-enforcement matters.”

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Trump Adviser Sentenced To Four Months In Prison

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    Madeleine Jackson
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    Image via Pixabay

    On Thursday, former Trump adviser Peter Navarro was sentenced to four months in prison for refusing to comply with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

    Last year, Navarro was convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for failing to produce documents related to the probe and another for skipping his deposition. 

    The Hill has more:

    Prosecutors argued Thursday that Navarro showed “utter disregard” for the House committee’s probe and “utter contempt for the rule of law.” They asked the judge to impose a six-month prison term.

    “The committee was investigating an attack on the very foundation of our democracy,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney John Crabb. “There could be no more serious investigation undertaken by Congress.”

    The Justice Department (DOJ) has pushed back against claims Navarro’s sentence was politically motivated.

    “It’s unfortunate that the statements mislead. They mislead,” Mehta said. “Nancy Pelosi is not responsible for this prosecution; Joe Biden isn’t responsible for the prosecution. It’s those kinds of statements from someone who knows better… that contributes to why our politics are so divisive.”

    “Punishing Dr. Navarro won’t fix or change that,” Navarro attorney Stanley Woodward later said of the political climate.

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

    Judge Rules Fox News Can Pursue Counterclaim Against Smartmatic

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    Madeleine Jackson
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    Looking east towards 6th Avenue along north (48th Street) side of Fox News building on a snowy afternoon. [Photo Credit: Jim.henderson, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons]

    But it can’t avoid Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion lawsuit…

    A New York Supreme Court judge has ruled that Smartmatic’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News Channel can proceed.

    However, he also denied the voting system company’s motion to dismiss Fox News’ counterclaim its suit is anti-free speech. He reasoned, in part, that the network has yet to be found liable for defamation.

    The Hollywood Reporter has more on the order advancing claims from both sides:

    “There remained a triable issue of fact for trial in that action as to whether defendants acted with actual malice, which is an element that plaintiffs need to prove here as well,” the order stated.

    But in a win for Smartmatic, New York Supreme Justice David Cohen refused to dismiss its suit against Fox. He found that the company “sufficiently alleged” that the network’s employees “played an affirmative role in the publication of the defamation at issue.”

    The decision sounds the death knell for Fox’s attempts to toss the case. Judge Cohen’s 61-page ruling states that Smartmatic has “substantial basis” to pursue its claim “that, at a minimum, Fox News turned a blind eye to a litany of outrageous claims about [Smartmatic], unprecedented in the history of American elections, so inherently improbable that it evinced a reckless disregard for the truth.”

    The Reporter continues:

    Despite a $788 million settlement to resolve a similar suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems, Fox continues to face mounting legal troubles over broadcasting far-right conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was stolen with the help of voting technology companies. Last year, Fox Corp.’s board of directors was sued for allegedly adopting a business model centered on chasing profits by intentionally broadcasting falsehoods and disregarding the risk of exposing itself to defamation claims.

    The dispute centers on allegations that Fox, in an attempt to boost ratings, capitalized on the popularity of former President Donald Trump by fabricating a narrative that Smartmatic caused him to unfairly lose the election.

    A trial over the network’s 2020 election coverage isn’t expected until 2025.

    Stunner: Documents Many Prove Top CIA Employees Plotted to ‘Take Out’ Trump

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    Donny Ferguson
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    Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    A new federal lawsuit may reveal proof two CIA employees discussed a plot to “get rid of” and “take out” President Donald Trump.

    The non-profit public interest law firm Judicial Watch announced they filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Defense Department for “reports submitted by a military officer to his superiors regarding an alleged conversation around January 2017 between CIA analysts Eric Ciaramella and Sean Misko about trying to ‘get rid’ of then-President Trump.”

    “The intelligence community targeted Trump for removal for daring to question Biden family corruption and election interference tied to Ukraine and Burisma,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “The Biden Defense Department’s sitting for over a year on a simple FOIA request on the Deep State targeting of Trump is a cover-up plain and simple.”

    In 2022 Real Clear Investigations reported:

    Barely two weeks after Donald Trump took office, Eric Ciaramella – the CIA analyst whose name was recently linked in a tweet by the president and mentioned by lawmakers as the anonymous “whistleblower” who touched off Trump’s impeachment – was overheard in the White House discussing with another staffer how to remove the newly elected president from office, according to former colleagues.

    Sources told RealClearInvestigations the staffer with whom Ciaramella was speaking was Sean Misko. Both were Obama administration holdovers working in the Trump White House on foreign policy and national security issues…

    At a meeting of National Security Council employees two weeks into the Trump administration, the unidentified military staffer, who was seated directly in front of Ciaramella and Misko, confirmed hearing them talk about toppling Trump.

    “After Flynn briefed [the staff] about what ‘America First’ foreign policy means, Ciaramella turned to Misko and commented, ‘We need to take him out,’ ” the staffer recalled. “And Misko replied, ‘Yeah, we need to do everything we can to take out the president.’”

    Added the military detailee, who spoke on condition of anonymity: “By ‘taking him out,’ they meant removing him from office by any means necessary…”

    Alarmed by their conversation, the military staffer immediately reported what he heard to his superiors.

    “It was so shocking that they were so blatant and outspoken about their opinion,” he recalled. “They weren’t shouting it, but they didn’t seem to feel the need to hide it.”

    In response, Judicial Watch file the suit after the Defense Department failed to respond to a January 14, 2022, FOIA request for:

    Any and all reports submitted by a US military officer assigned to the National Security Council to his superiors relating to a conversation he overheard circa January 2017 at an “all-hands” NSC staff meeting between CIA analysts Eric Ciaramella and Sean Misko regarding trying to “get rid” of then-President Trump, as discussed in a January 22, 2020 Real Clear Investigations article available at this link.

    Any and all records relating to any investigations conducted by the Department of Defense and/or its sub-agencies and departments into the alleged conversation between Misko and Ciaramella referenced above, including but not limited to investigative reports and witness statements.

    All emails and communications sent to and from members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff regarding the alleged conversation between Misko and Ciaramella and any related investigations.

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Maine Dismisses Trump Primary Ballot Appeal

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

    On Wednesday, the top court in Maine ruled former President Donald Trump may remain on the state’s primary ballot until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the matter,  dismissing an appeal from Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D).

    According to The Hill, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled unanimously to uphold a lower judge’s order that required Bellows to wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide on the Colorado ballot case before she could withdraw, modify, or uphold her decision to block Trump’s name from Maine’s primary ballot on March 5.

    Last year, Bellows ruled Trump could not appear on the state’s primary ballot under the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment.

    Trump appealed the decision to the state court which declined to take up the case, however, the judge said Trump could remain on the ballot until the U.S. Supreme Court decides the Colorado case

    The Hill has more:

    Bellows had warned punting the decision on Trump’s eligibility would put Maine in a “precarious position,” noting the state primary is held on Super Tuesday, March 5, which is fast approaching. She said voters might cast their votes with the answer on Trump’s eligibility still unresolved.

    “A stay of this proceeding, followed by a February decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, may ultimately force the Secretary and her staff to scramble to minimize damage to the integrity of the March 5, 2024, election,” the Maine attorney general’s office, representing Bellows, had written in court filings.

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