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Rick Scott Challenger Calls It Quits

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

The Senate primary field is already shrinking…

On Wednesday, Phil Ehr announced his decision to drop out of the Senate primary and instead challenge incumbent Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) for Florida’s 28th congressional district.

The move is a stark turnaround after Ehr initially entered the senate race to unseat Republican Senator Rick Scott.

Politico has more:

But Ehr, who once ran against GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz in northwest Florida, said his decision to compete for Gimenez’s House seat was motivated by what he called the “chaos in the nation’s Capitol” due to the Republican infighting over House speaker that has kept that chamber without a leader for more than two weeks.

“We have in the House of Representatives chaos that is damaging America, chaos that is preventing us from being able to respond overseas,” Ehr told Playbook.

Ehr’s decision to mount a congressional campaign in South Florida was, in part, because he believes Gimenez is vulnerable and for the GOP lawmaker’s support of former President Donald Trump and other Republicans like Gaetz. Gimenez is currently one of the holdouts opposed to the speakership bid of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

Ehr also added that he’s been a Florida resident since 1984, and while in the military he did missions in the area, including rescuing Cuban exiles during the Mariel boatlift. “This place is very familiar to me,” Ehr said.

Trump Doxxes Dem Attorney General After Being Hit With Gag Order

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Trump could be in deep trouble now…

On Tuesday, the former president lashed out at New York Attorney General Letitia James over the current fraud trial before posting a link to her home address despite already being under a gag order in the case.

Trump’s Truth Social post contained his usual insults against the Democrat prosecutor but added a little extra spice to the message:

Her Fake Case against me should be dropped immediately! My Financial Statements are extremely conservative, and her numbers were way off, including the fact that she undervalued Mar-a-Lago and Doral by Billions of Dollars. She also didn’t reveal the 100% Disclaimer Clause at the front of the Financial Statements, and that she sued me under a Statute that was never used before. MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE AND ELECTION INTERFERENCE ALL WRAPPED UP IN ONE!

Mediaite has more:

The post included a link to a smear piece by white nationalist Laura Loomer that featured documents that showed a home address for Attorney General James. The link is to a Loomer substack post.

According to the gag order imposed earlier this week, Trump is specifically prohibited from attacking the court’s staff.

Engoron said in court, “Consider this statement an order forbidding all parties from posting, emailing or speaking publicly about any members of my staff. Failure to abide by this … will result in serious sanctions.”

Trump Appeals Gag Order in Jan. 6 Case

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

The day after the federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s election interference case agreed to a “narrow” gag order the former President’s team is seeking an appeal.

According to reports from The Hill, Trump’s legal team is expected to challenge the order on First Amendment grounds, as the former president has complained the order unfairly restricts his freedom of speech.

On Monday, Judge Tanya Chutkan issued the ruling barring the former President from targeting witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and their families.

Judge Tanya Chutkan said Trump’s status as a candidate did not give him authority to level a “smear campaign” against those involved in the case, saying that “1st amendment protections yield to the administration of justice and to the protection of witnesses.”

During the hearing, Chutkan particularly raised concerns over Trump’s statements calling special counsel Jack Smith a deranged thug.

“I cannot imagine any other criminal case where a defendant is allowed to call a prosecutor deranged or a thug,” she said.

“I will not permit it here simply because the defendant is running a political campaign,” Chutkan added.

A Trump campaign spokesperson connected the decision to President Biden immediately after the ruling was made, who had no role in the decision or in Trump’s court cases, and called the ruling “an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy.”

“President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American people’s right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement,” the spokesperson said in a statement shared by the campaign.

Trump Sues Ex-spy Over Debunked Dossier

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Former President Donald Trump suing the ex-spy responsible for the now-discredited Steele Dossier that detailed intel on potential links between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.

The Hill reports that Trump’s lawyers filed suit in Britain against Orbis Business Intelligence, the company founded by Christopher Steele, a former MI6 agent who published a 35-page dossier including uncorroborated claims that Trump’s campaign and Russian agents conspired to influence the 2016 U.S. election.

Hugh Tomlinson, a lawyer for Trump who appeared before a judge at London’s High Court on Monday, alleged the company violated British data protection laws and has “suffered personal and reputational damage and distress” as a result.

The former president has repeatedly claimed the dossier was “fake news” and a political witch hunt following the 2016 presidential election.

Steele, who led the Russia desk for MI6 — formally known as the Secret Intelligence Service — is looking to have the lawsuit dismissed during two days of hearings at London’s High Court, per AP reports.

Steele’s dossier has since been largely discredited and determined to be funded by Democrats during the 2016 presidential election. 

While the dossier itself was not the basis for the FBI’s probe into Trump’s alleged ties to Russia, the report was heavily involved with the investigation led by former special counsel Robert Mueller.

Obama DHS Secretary: FBI Overwhelmed by Potential Terrorists Crossing Border

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Jsg2020, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

ANALYSIS – You know things are bad when the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Team Obama is worried about terrorists crossing the border under Joe Biden. 

In the wake of the gruesome and deadly terror attacks against Israeli civilians by Hamas, Jeh Johnson told Fox News that he is concerned that Hamas or other Iranian-backed terrorist groups could use, or already have used, the wide-open border to infiltrate terror cells into the U.S.

As noted by 19fortyfive:

“There are a lot of people entering our southern border right now,” Johnson said. “Thousands and thousands. It’s a hemispheric move north bigger than anything we’ve ever seen. [emphasis added] And the challenge for [U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP], for our DHS, the FBI, is to try to keep up.”

Johnson continued, “Unfortunately, as you know, the system is broken, it’s horribly backlogged, and there’s a whole lot of people entering this country who we cannot identify.”

we know, Jeh. Please tell Biden!

Newsweek reported: “There has also been a rise in recent years in the number of people apprehended on the FBI’s terrorist watchlist, with border patrol agents apprehending 151 migrants along the southern border in the fiscal year 2023 who match the FBI’s screening system, according to the CBP.”

It added: “In fiscal year 2022, 98 people on the watchlist were apprehended after entering from Mexico.”

If Hamas can get past Israel’s highly fortified border with Gaza and deceive one of the world’s most sophisticated intelligence services to conduct what was mostly a massive surprise suicide raid to kill massive numbers of civilians, what do you think Iranian backed terrorists could do to us across our currently open border with Mexico?

One scenario involves them working hand in hand with powerful and deadly Mexican drug cartels that have free reign along the border and are behind much of the human and drug smuggling today.

As 19fortyfive reported:

Fox News reporter Griff Jenkins noted on X Friday that the Border Patrol had apprehended two Lebanese nationals in Eagle Pass, Texas, an area of high illegal migrant flow. Hizballah is based in Lebanon.

Hizballah has a documented relationship with the Mexican cartels that could easily be used to smuggle sleeper agents into the U.S. as it is used to smuggle drugs. Such agents likely would only be activated in the event of a war with Iran, because Hizballah is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC].

Recall that in 2011 the IRGC plotted with Los Zetas cartel to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. at Washington, D.C.’s upscale Café Milano in Georgetown.

Had that terror attack not been thwarted, it could have killed dozens of innocent civilians on U.S. soil. This is a perfect example of how Iran or its terror proxies could infiltrate the United States in coordination with Mexican cartels.

Today things could be far worse. They could then use Biden’s wide open border and the cartels’ growing networks inside our country to inflict maximum damage.

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

Trump Scores Endorsement From Iowa Attorney General

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Former President Donald Trump scored a significant endorsement on Monday as he seeks to shore up support in the Hawkeye State.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird (R) endorsed former President Trump during a campaign rally in Adel, Iowa.

“We need a new president in the White House. I am so glad to get to be here today to introduce Donald Trump, ’cause he will secure our border, who supports that?” she said to a crowd of Trump supporters.

“He will fight the terrorists. He will fix the economy. He will stand up for agriculture, and he will uphold our Constitution and our way of life,” she added.

Trump continues to lead in national and local polling, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis placing second in the RealClearPolitics polling index of Iowa surveys.

However, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (R) has yet to make a public endorsement in the GOP presidential primaries but has frequently campaigned alongside DeSantis.

The former president criticized her approach to the primary in July, writing in a post on his Truth Social platform, “I opened up the Governor position for Kim Reynolds, & when she fell behind, I ENDORSED her, did big Rallies, & she won. Now, she wants to remain ‘NEUTRAL.’ I don’t invite her to events! DeSanctus down 45 points!”

Kari Lake Secures Major Endorsement

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Kari Lake speaking with supporters at a "Stand for Freedom" rally at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Scottsdale Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. [Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons]

Kari Lake snagged a key endorsement from a top Republican senator nearly a week after announcing her campaign for Senate.

On Monday, Wyoming Senator John Barrasso’s endorsement comes after Lake formally launched her bid for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (I-Ariz.) seat.

“Kari Lake will shine brightly for Arizona. She is a generational communicator who is giving voice to Arizona citizens,” Barrasso said in a statement. 

“Joe Biden’s policies have crushed Arizona. Arizonans are dealing with record inflation – up 20 percent under the Biden administration. Arizona is also on the front lines of the worst illegal immigration crisis in American history. Nearly 8 million illegal immigrants under Biden, equal to the population of Arizona,” he continued. “The U.S. Senate needs a Senator from Arizona that understands these issues, and will fight hard to solve them.”

Lake thanked Barrasso in a statement, saying, “I am honored by the friendship and endorsement of Senator Barrasso.”

“He is a tested and proven conservative leader who I greatly admire. I look forward to working with Senator Barrasso to get America back on track and fire Chuck Schumer,” she added.

Sen. Barrasso’s endorsement is significant considering some Senator’s hesitation over Lake’s Senate campaign over past comments on election fraud and her links to former President Trump.

According to The Hill, Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), chairman of the Senate GOP campaign arm, has said that he’s had “productive conversations with Kari Lake and her team.”

Report: Oprah Pitched a White House Run with Mitt Romney

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

This union would have certainly shaken up the 2020 election…

The latest revelation in “Romney: A Reckoning” by McKay Coppins, out a week from Tuesday, reveals that Oprah Winfrey floated a presidential run and suggested Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney join her for a”unity ticket.”

Axios has more:

Coppins writes that Romney told him Winfrey, a Democrat, made a pitch to run together “to save the country,” according to a source familiar with the manuscript.

Romney tells Coppins he dismissed the idea, believing that such a campaign would inadvertently help Trump.

Last month, Romney announced he would not run for re-election.

McCarthy Predicts Jordan Will Win Speaker’s Gavel

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy delivers remarks at the 2021 Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Washington DC, December 1, 2021. USDA Forest Service photo by Tanya E. Flores.

Kevin McCarthy said he thinks Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan will ultimately become the next Speaker of the House.

The California Republican made the prediction on Fox News almost two weeks after the House voted to remove him from the role, leaving Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) as speaker pro tempore while a possible government shutdown looms and Israel goes to war with Hamas.

“I did walk in with more support during this time, but I believe, at the end of the day, Jim can get there. And I’m doing everything I can to help him be able to become speaker,” McCarthy told anchor Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

While Democrats are pushing for a coalition to elect a new speaker, which Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) indicated would include rules changes “to facilitate bipartisanship,” Jordan’s backers say they don’t want to resort to making concessions.

“Some Republicans want to cut a deal with Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries to elect a Speaker. With Democrats controlling the White House and the Senate, we must not give up control of the House,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) said in a post to X on Sunday. “Republicans should unite behind Jim Jordan as our Speaker of the House!”

With reports on Sunday indicating that a floor vote could happen as early as Tuesday, McCarthy said Jordan is busy trying to shore up support.

“I talked to Jim last night. He’s talking to every single member, assessing what their challenges are. But we have got to be able to work together,” McCarthy said.

Tucker Carlson Minimizes Israeli Tragedy – Guilty of ‘Moral Stupidity’?

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Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America,

ANALYSIS – Tucker Carlson strikes again. As a lifelong conservative, I often approved of Carlson’s message. He often took on the liberal media and skewered those on the Left. 

But increasingly, his ‘populist’ stick is wearing thin.

Some of his conspiracy theories have proven to be farfetched, if not nutty. And his pro-Russia line has become predictable, even to the Kremlin.

But now he is showing some additional worrisome traits – isolationism to the point of pacifism and surrender, under the guise of ‘realism.’ 

Is he guilty of “moral stupidity”?

I know he likes his clicks and views and wants more attention since being dropped from Fox, but come on, Tucker – WTH?

On Monday, just two days after Hamas terrorists raped, slaughtered and pillaged their way across southern Israel, Carlson posted a video on X.

In it, he perfunctorily acknowledged that the murderous Hamas rampage was a “crime,” and Israel had a right to defend itself, before quickly moving on to his now preferred line of: ‘everything we, or our allies, may do to defend against aggression may lead to nuclear war.’

“The question for American policymakers, however, is what do we do next?” asked Carlson before suggesting that the events of last weekend could easily lead to war with Iran and even the use of nuclear weapons.

My questions for Tucker: Can you spend just a little longer showing sincere outrage at what happened in Israel?

And can you spend a little longer understanding the bigger threat posed to the U.S. by Iran?

Yes, a lot of things happening in the world today could lead to nuclear war: Russia invading Ukraine; Iran directing Hamas to slaughter Israelis; China invading Taiwan. All could lead to a potential nuclear conflict. Potentially.

And that fear is what our mortal enemies want to paralyze us with. In this way, Carlson is now the poster child for enemy propaganda. He could have been part of the leftist, Moscow-directed, ‘Nuclear Freeze’ movement during the Cold War.

Don’t do anything outside the United States or you might start WWIII. That’s not a sound policy.

Carlson is also getting increasingly vicious and petty in his attacks against anyone he disagrees with, now usually fellow conservatives. Even when he is totally wrong.

He savaged Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley for suggesting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu“finish” Hamas once and for all. Something Bibi should do.

“She’s a child and this is the tantrum of a child,” ranted Carlson, calling her comments “ignorant, cocksure,” and “bloodthirsty.”

Sadly, Carlson mistook Haley’s remarks for talking about Iran rather than Hamas, so he was totally off, and it wasn’t even relevant. Ooops.

Which is another thing I’ve been noticing about him. He is increasingly just plain sloppy. And at least two of these harsh names also apply more to his guest, Vivek Ramaswamy, and himself, than to Haley.

I also wish Carlson would have used the third term – ‘bloodthirsty’ – to refer to Hamas, rather than fellow conservative, Haley.

But to Carlson, his fellow Americans deserve more insults than our enemies. That is concerning.

Carlson simply fails to understand that Iran is behind the attack on Israel, and that this attack is part of a much bigger campaign by Iran against the West and the United States.

But Carlson’s attempt to equate fentanyl overdoses in the United States, which is a tragedy (that Joe Biden has abetted through his open border policy), and the deliberate massacres in Israel, was just obscene.

And that part of Carlson’s tirade provoked conservative commentator Ben Shapiro to launch into a blistering criticism of him.

It is a moral atrocity and a moral evil for people to kidnap women, rape them and drag them back to the Gaza border. Those are not the same thing and Tucker knows that. But this is a cheap way of telling you not to look. Don’t look. Stop caring. Because after all, what does it matter? What does it matter? Now again, I don’t know who thinks that that’s a sophisticated point of view, especially when nobody is calling for America to go to war with Iran [to be fair, Lindsey Graham IS calling for an attack against Iran, but ONLY IF it directly attacks Israel]. The entire purpose of having an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean is to avoid that. But here is Tucker playing — I don’t even know the game he’s playing. It’s just a dumb, it’s a dumb game.

Shapiro added:

That is not the same thing. I promise you, it is not the same thing as a terrorist breaking into your home and murdering your children in their beds in front of you and dragging your wife off to be raped in Gaza. That is not the same thing. Pretending that is a moral, it’s a moral blight. It’s idiocy. It’s just moral stupidity at the highest level. 

Of course, we should care about what happens with fentanyl. Of course, we should care about — we should close our border. Have I been unclear about this? Of course, America should have closed borders when it comes to this sort of stuff. I’m on the same side as Tucker on that. I just don’t understand why he’s not on my side when it comes to ‘Hamas has to be wiped off the face of the earth.’ 

And to be clear myself — while I agree that we need to weigh the risks in any U.S. involvement in this escalating Mideast conflict, it’s not just Israel’s fight. Iran is gunning for us, and Israel is just in its way.

Carlson needs to get a reality check on his foreign policy ‘realism.’

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