Judge Rules Trump False Election Claims Covered by Presidential Immunity

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August 1, 2023

Legal_Gavel_ — Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

A Pennsylvania judge sided with Donald Trump on Monday, finding that statements Trump made regarding the 2020 election while still in office are protected by presidential immunity.

Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Erdos said Trump’s immunity covered a tweet he issued and comments he made remotely from the White House during a Pennsylvania state Senate committee hearing in November 2020.

James Savage, a Pennsylvania voting machine supervisor in the 2020 election, filed lawsuits alleging Trump, Rudy Giuliani, two poll watchers and others conspired to defame him.

“Other legal proceedings may examine the propriety of his statements and actions while he was the President and whether, as the plaintiffs in this and other cases contend, it was this conduct which served as the actual threat to our democracy,” Erdos ruled. “But this case is not the proper place to do so. Here, Trump is entitled to Presidential immunity.”

“Here, then-President Trump’s Gettysburg remarks and his tweet were public,” Erdos wrote. “Moreover, the topic of these statements—claims from third parties and the President himself about irregularities in the Presidential election which on their face called into question the integrity of the election and whether now-President Joseph Biden had been duly elected—was undoubtedly a matter of great public concern.”

Trump praised the Monday ruling.

“We are pleased with the Court’s decision to honor the long-standing principle of Presidential Immunity,” Trump legal spokeswoman Alina Habba said in a statement.

“Today, the Court made it clear that it is well within the President’s discretion to address the integrity of our election without fear of liability,” Habba continued. “We expect that the rest of Mr. Savage’s claims will similarly be disposed of as they are without merit.”

Amanda Head: LeBron James’ Ohio School Failing Miserably!

Opinion

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Amanda Head

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July 31, 2023

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Who saw this coming?

Watch Amanda explain the situation below:

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

Georgia Judge Rejects Trump Effort to End Fulton County Investigation

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By

Madeleine Jackson

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July 31, 2023

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Donald Trump — Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

A Georgia judge rejected former President Trump’s attempt to end an investigation into his alleged efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election results.

The Hill has more:

“The movants’ asserted ‘injuries’ that would open the doors of the courthouse to their claims are either insufﬁcient or else speculative and unrealized,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote in the nine-page ruling.

“They are insufﬁcient because, while being the subject (or even target) of a highly publicized criminal investigation is likely an unwelcome and unpleasant experience, no court ever has held that that status alone provides a basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation.”

The ruling marks the second roadblock for Trump in his efforts to dismiss the probe. Earlier this month, the state’s supreme court rejected another suit seeking to block it.

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

Trump Co-defendant Carlos de Oliveira Released on Bond

News

By

Madeleine Jackson

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July 31, 2023

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Former President Donald Trump’s newest co-defendant in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case was released on bond Monday.

Carlos de Oliveira was released on a $100,000 bond after an initial court appearance Monday, according to The Hill. He is facing obstruction of justice charges as well as charges for making false statements to investigators.

De Oliveira was named as a co-conspirator in the case in a Thursday superseding indictment that accused the Mar-a-Lago property manager of coordinating with Trump to attempt to delete security camera footage that showed him and another defendant in the case, Walt Nauta, moving boxes in and out of a storage room.

Trump accused the Justice Department of “prosecutorial misconduct” in a statement to Fox News. (RELATED: Special Counsel Charges Third Defendant, Adds Additional Charges in Document Case)

“It’s election interference at the highest level,” Trump told Fox News Digital just after he learned of the latest indictment. “They’re harassing my company, they’re harassing my family and by far, least importantly of all, they’re harassing me.”

Trump told Fox News Digital that “the charges are ridiculous, and they know it better than anyone.”

“This is prosecutorial misconduct used at a level never seen before,” Trump said. “If I weren’t leading Biden by a lot in numerous polls, and wasn’t going to be the Republican nominee, it wouldn’t be happening. It wouldn’t be happening.”

He added: “But I am way up as a Republican and way up in the general election and this is what you get.”

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

Credible US Officials Testify to Congress About Real UFO Threat

Opinion

By

Paul Crespo

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July 28, 2023

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ANALYSIS – Decades after the infamous Roswell incident captivated Americans, the House of Representatives has convened a landmark panel on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), also known as Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).

In what would have been unimaginable just a few years ago, the hearing is the most serious acknowledgment yet that the mysterious sightings require scrutiny at the highest levels of government.

The debate about UAP has become a hot topic in recent years following multiple leaked photographs and video recordings from the U.S. Navy showing UAP craft operating at high speed over American airspace, often with no visible propulsion and maneuvering in ways that baffle aeronautics experts.

A leaked navy video, captured in July 2019, for example, shows a sphere-shaped unidentified object flying over water near San Diego before apparently disappearing into the ocean.

At the hearing, three witnesses testified under oath about their experiences with UFOs. Significantly, former military and intelligence officials testified to the panel Wednesday that they have seen UFOs and said they could pose risks to national security.

All three witnesses said the UAP may be probing for weakness in the U.S. military system.

The highly credible former officials called for the U.S. government to share what it knows about the phenomena.

But the Pentagon’s UAP task force, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, says it hasn’t been able to substantiate claims that any federal programs have possessed or reverse-engineered extraterrestrial materials.

Still, during two hours of testimony on July 26, three witnesses shared their encounters with flying objects that they say defy explanation:

1) David Grusch, an ex-Air Force intelligence officer, claims the U.S. has been running a secret program to retrieve and reverse engineer UAPs for decades, and has been aware of “non-human” activity since the 1930s.

Grusch said he believes the U.S. government is in possession of UAP based on interviewing 40 witnesses over four years with direct knowledge of the program.

Perhaps more sensationally, in response to a question regarding aliens, he replied “biologics [life forms] came with some of these [UAP] recoveries.”

2) Ryan Graves, a former navy fighter pilot, testified his squadron repeatedly encountered mysterious flying objects which could remain stationary despite hurricane-level winds – claiming he saw them off the Atlantic coast “every day for at least a couple years.”

The Wall Street Journal reported on one sighting:

Graves said his aircrew saw UAP during a training exercise off the coast of Virginia Beach, Va. Two jets encountered “a dark gray or black cube inside of a clear sphere” and the object came within 50 feet of the lead aircraft, he said. It was estimated to be 5 to 15 feet in diameter, he said.

3) Retired U.S. Navy commander David Fravor recounted a 2004 encounter with a “Tic Tac” shaped UAP that moved in a way that baffled aviators. Fravor said it had no visible rotors or wings.

It was “moving very abruptly over the white water, like a ping-pong ball,” he added, noting that he flew his aircraft closer to get a better view of the UAP, but “it rapidly accelerated and disappeared.”

But this is only the latest and most significant public inquiry into the UFO threat.

In 2021 the U.S. intelligence agencies were called to deliver a report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) to Congress.

The first unclassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) made public what the Pentagon reportedly knows about UAP, renewing interest in the mysterious objects which have grown into a modern myth in American society.

ODNI produced a second UAP report in 2022.

Whether UAP is the result of advanced foreign technology or from a more otherworldly source, government officials are now demanding to know more about them. And so is the public.

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

Former Michigan GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Pleads Guilty to Jan. 6 Charge

News

By

Madeleine Jackson

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July 27, 2023

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A former Republican candidate for Michigan governor pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection.

Ryan Kelley was reportedly arrested last June after anonymous tipsters gave photos to the FBI showing that he was present at the Capitol.

At the time of his arrest in 2022, Kelley was the leading candidate for the GOP gubernatorial primary, according to polling.

According to The Hill, federal investigators said Kelley was part of the crowd that rushed the Capitol, forcing police to retreat up the stairs and into the building. He directed parts of the crowd to and around the Capitol, but did not enter the building himself, investigators said.

Kelley initially pleaded not guilty to a slate of charges including entering a restricted area and destruction of government property. He pleaded guilty to the restricted area charge this week in an agreement that saw other charges dropped.

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

Ex-Trump Defense Secretary Says Trump ‘Not Fit for Office’ of President

By

Paul Crespo

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July 27, 2023

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John-Bolton-w-Donald-Trump — The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

ANALYSIS – Why do so many of Donald Trump’s former top advisors say he is ‘not fit for office’ due to his character and actions while president? Former White House national security adviser John Bolton, who worked closely with Trump for a year and a half, has said that the former president is not “fit for office.”

The most recent to say that is former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. Trump’s ex-defense chief reaffirmed his views on the former president in a recent TV interview.

The segment, reported by Breitbart, which began by discussing the most recent criminal charges being levied against Trump over the January 6 Capitol riot, turned to Esper’s views of his former boss.

Esper, a former Army officer, was fired from his post after Trump lost the 2020 election. He told Kaitlan Collins on CNN that he doesn’t plan on endorsing anyone in the GOP primary but made clear that he doesn’t support Trump because he puts himself first, not America.

Esper said:

I don’t plan on endorsing anybody. I said that I wouldn’t support Donald Trump. I don’t think that he is fit for office because he puts himself first and I think anyone running for office should put the country first. And they should abide by their oath and do a number of other things.

He added that the GOP needs a nominee who will grow the party: “I’m looking for somebody who puts the country first, a person who will abide by their oath, who will advance traditional, Republican policies and objectives and who will bring the Republican Party together and grow the party.”

Esper also said Trump has proven he isn’t a winner: “You have to win elections, and Donald Trump is not winning elections whether they are House, Senate or White House. That’s what Republicans need to do.”

The former Trump defense chief emphasized that at least half of the dozen current Republican candidates for president are very credible and could beat Joe Biden, noting that he was willing to “Assist any one of them, help them.”

Collins concluded by noting: “We talked about this many times, but to hear someone who was the Pentagon chief for a new candidate for president saying that you would willingly help his challengers who are running against him just speaks to the moment that we are in.”

While he didn’t name any specific candidates in this interview, earlier he praised Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a veteran of the war in Iraq, as one of those in the “next generation” who looks like a promising presidential candidate, reported the New York Post.

“He did a great job in Florida. He brought more Hispanics on board. He appears to me to be the frontrunner,” Esper said of DeSantis.

Esper first called Trump unfit for office back in November 2022 after he announced he was running again in 2024.

“I think he’s unfit for office,” Esper said in an interview with CNN.

Esper added that Trump “has integrity and character issues as well,” describing one of those “character issues” as Trump’s difficulty with telling the truth, noting that he believes Americans want a trustworthy commander-in-chief.

“I don’t think he’s an honest person. We saw the falsehoods that came out of his remarks last night … Americans need a leader they can trust,” Esper said.

And John Kelly, former Trump Chief of Staff, and a retired 4-star Marine Corps general, agrees with Esper. Since Trump left office, Kelly has reportedly said Trump was the “most flawed person” he has ever met.

“The depths of his dishonesty are just astounding to me. The dishonesty, the transactional nature of every relationship, though it’s more pathetic than anything else. He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life,” Kelly told friends, according to a report by CNN in 2020.

Kelly has also warned of the dangers to the country of a second term for Trump, telling the New York Times that it ‘…would be chaotic, because he’d continually be trying to exceed his authority but the sycophants would go along with it.’

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

Special Counsel Charges Third Defendant, Adds Additional Charges in Document Case

News

By

Madeleine Jackson

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July 27, 2023

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On Thursday, Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith unveiled a bevy of new charges in the ongoing classified documents case.

The Justice Department announced that a “superseding indictment was returned by a grand jury in the Southern District of Florida that adds one defendant and four charges to the prior indictment filed against Donald J. Trump and Waltine Nauta.”

“The superseding indictment adds a new Count charging Trump with one additional count of willful retention of National Defense Information,” the DOJ said. “Carlos de Oliveira, 56, of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, has been added to the obstruction conspiracy charged in the original indictment.”

“The superseding indictment also charges Trump, De Oliveira and Nauta with two new obstruction counts based on allegations that the defendants attempted to delete surveillance video footage at The Mar-a-Lago Club in summer 2022,” the DOJ said.

“Finally, the superseding indictment also charges De Oliveira with false statements and representations in a voluntary interview with the FBI on Jan. 13, 2023,” the DOJ added. “De Oliveira has been summoned to appear at 10:30 a.m. on July 31, 2023, in Courtroom #5 at the James L. King Federal Courthouse in Miami.”

Trump accused the Justice Department of “prosecutorial misconduct” in a statement to Fox News.

“It’s election interference at the highest level,” Trump told Fox News Digital just after he learned of the latest indictment. “They’re harassing my company, they’re harassing my family and by far, least importantly of all, they’re harassing me.”

Trump told Fox News Digital that “the charges are ridiculous, and they know it better than anyone.”

“This is prosecutorial misconduct used at a level never seen before,” Trump said. “If I weren’t leading Biden by a lot in numerous polls, and wasn’t going to be the Republican nominee, it wouldn’t be happening. It wouldn’t be happening.”

He added: “But I am way up as a Republican and way up in the general election and this is what you get.”

Trump is also under investigation for allegedly interfering with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election.

Hunter Biden’s Sweetheart Criminal Plea Deal ‘Implodes’ – Twice

Opinion

By

Paul Crespo

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July 26, 2023

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ANALYSIS – After reportedly imploding earlier Wednesday, Hunter Biden’s sweetheart criminal plea deal then appeared to be ‘back on’ after being revised.

But then the revised deal imploded again when it was blocked by the federal judge overseeing the case.

It now may be on life support.

Prosecutors said in court that Hunter Biden failed to pay between $1.1 million and $1.5 million in taxes when they were due.

Questioning from Judge Maryellen Noreika, a Trump appointee, during Biden’s hearing, uncovered that the Department of Justice (DoJ) and Biden’s legal team were not on the same page regarding the scope of the deal.

Biden’s team believed it was more sweeping than it was intended.

Hunter Biden had been expected to plead guilty to 2017 and 2018 misdemeanor tax charges Wednesday in a Delaware court, in part it seemed, to avoid jail time on a separate felony gun charge.

Under an earlier agreement with federal prosecutors in Delaware, the First Son has entered a pretrial diversion program for the gun charge, which allows defendants to avoid a conviction or prison time.

Noreika said she had “concerns” about the parties seemingly linking the tax plea agreement to resolving a felony gun charge.

However, the deal was then revised.

The new deal was going to cover Biden’s drug use and tax-related conduct from 2014 to 2019 (not just 2017-2018) but would not cover Biden for any other matters or crimes.

This is critical since the GOP-led House Oversight Committee is currently investigating Biden’s shady foreign business dealings and how Joe Biden is connected to the money that came to Hunter from overseas sources including Ukraine and China.

News of the sweetheart deal in June sparked accusations of favorable treatment for the president’s son from Republicans who have accused the younger Biden of a myriad of crimes and improprieties, including influence-peddling abroad.

Under the revised deal the DoJ could now charge Biden in the future for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) since he lobbied on behalf of foreign governments without registering as a Foreign Agent under FARA.

America First Legal (AFL) is suing the DoJ for allegedly failing to require the president’s son to register for FARA during the Obama administration.

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley told CNN that court proceedings today on Biden’s plea deal shows that the deal was always flawed and that additional charges could be coming.

CNN reported:

“It’s very telling that the judge intervened here and said basically, ‘No, I’m not going to approve some sweeping blanket deal,’” the Republican from Missouri said. “I mean, that tells you the court has serious concerns about other potential charges here, and also the scope of the deal, which has seemed outrageous from the beginning.”

He added, “This, I think, signals that they’re still very much as potential for prosecution forward.”

Hawley said that Biden should not receive special treatment, as whistleblowers have alleged. “He should be treated like any other person under the law. That’s my view on him.”

But the judge wasn’t satisfied with the revised deal either. “What if it is unconstitutional?” Judge Noreika asked. “I’m trying to exercise due diligence and consideration to make sure we don’t make a misstep.”

The tax charges could carry a sentence of up to 18 months, but Hunter Biden is unlikely to face prison time because he lacks a criminal history and has accepted responsibility for his actions.

As part of the deal, prosecutorsare recommending probation, but ultimately the judge has the sole authority to decide his punishment.

The hearing ended with Biden pleading not guilty ‘for now’ with the judge asking both sides to file additional briefs explaining the plea deal’s legal structure.

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