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Report: Trump Judge Sued For Financial Disclosures

By
Madeleine Jackson
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5
Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

America First Legal (AFL) is suing New York State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan.

AFL sued Merchan, who presided over former President Donald Trump’s trial in New York v. Trump, stemming from the yearslong investigation out of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office. They also sued the New York State Unified Court System’s Ethics Commission.

Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump has appealed the ruling and called on Merchan to overturn the verdict. 

The lawsuit comes after the AFL sent a demand letter last week for Merchan’s financial disclosures, threatening legal action. The AFL previously requested those records in June. 

Under New York law, judges are required to file annual financial disclosures, which are required to be made available upon request. 

“The law is clear that judicial financial disclosures must be released to the public,” AFL Vice President Dan Epstein told Fox News Digital. “New York’s highest court has stated that such disclosures are necessary for parties before the courts to get a fair shake.” 

Epstein said the public “needs to know what Judge Merchan is hiding or even if he failed to file financial disclosures at all.” 

“This is especially important given the fact that Merchan appears to have engaged in unlawful campaign contributions and is on the precipice of criminally sentencing the former president of the United States,” Epstein said. “Fundamental fairness dictates a resolution of America First Legal’s suit in its favor.” 

The AFL is seeking the records amid longstanding concerns of a conflict of interest in Merchan’s role in the trial amid his daughter’s political work. 

Loren Merchan sits as the president for Authentic Campaigns — a company that has done political work for top Democrat clients like President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Report: GOP Insiders Are Betting Against Trump

    By
    Patrick Houck
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    7

    According to a new report from Politico Playbook, several long-standing Republican politicians are secretly rooting for Donald Trump to lose to Kamala Harris this November.

    These officials believe that for the GOP to stand a chance of consistently winning future elections, it needs to move past the controversies and divisions of the Trump era.

    Politico reportedly spoke to a variety of conservative voices who are disenchanted with Trump for different reasons, though they’re hesitant to admit it publicly. The sources are not the typical Never Trump crowd, according to the report.

    Mediaite’s David Gilmour provides further details on the situation:

    Key individuals that have relayed their concerns in confidence include free-marketeers concerned about Trump’s tariff idea, pro-life lawmakers disconcerted by the former president’s pro-choice remarks and defense hawks worried about his stance on NATO.

    One conservative leader told Playbook: “There’s a lot of anxiety about what Trump does to Republican ability to win in 2028 — and what he also may do to the party in terms of policy long-term. There is just this concern that like, ‘OK, if the party just goes in that direction, then what kind of party is it going forward? And can conservatives, then, have a home going forward?’”

    A new column by Politico reporter Jonathan Martin wrote: “the best possible outcome in November for the future of the Republican Party is for Donald Trump to lose and lose soundly.”

    He added: “GOP leaders won’t tell you that on the record. I just did.”

    While losing the White House would give Democrats more control in the short term, some of the sources Politico spoke to argue that a Trump defeat could make the GOP a more viable force in future elections.

    What do you think? Tell us in the comments below!

    Watchdog Group Seeks To Remove Judge From Trump Case

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1
    Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

    A group is asking the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to remove Judge Aileen Cannon from overseeing former President Trump’s classified documents case.

    The brief filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) argued Judge Cannon has taken “many efforts to undermine and derail the prosecution of this case.” The brief coincides with special counsel Jack Smith’s appeal of a ruling from Cannon that tossed the documents case entirely in determining Smith was unlawfully appointed.

    The CREW brief asks for the documents case to be reassigned to another jurist in South Florida. Smith did not make that request, but the 11th Circuit could independently determine the rare move is warranted.

    The Hill has more:

    “Even before she dismissed this case on novel and insupportable grounds that ignored both statutory authority and Supreme Court precedent, Judge Cannon’s other extraordinary rulings and sluggish administration of the case had provoked well-founded concerns that she might be biased against the Government’s case and unable to manage that case impartially,” CREW wrote in its motion to file a friend-of-the-court brief filed late Tuesday.

    The filing also cites Cannon’s “inexplicable call for jury instructions on a spurious legal defense that would have gutted the Government’s case had it ever gone to trial” after she mulled embracing arguments from Trump on jury instructions even as she failed to account for a trial date in the case.

    It also notes “Cannon’s failure over the course of one year to move the case forward in any significant way—until a one-Justice concurrence in the Supreme Court’s presidential-immunity opinion expressed approval of the novel constitutional theory that allowed her to end the case.”

    That was a nod to an off-topic footnote from Justice Clarence Thomas.

    Barron Trump To Attend NYU

      By
      Madeleine Jackson
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      2
      NYU, Greenwich Village, NYC

      Donald Trump’s youngest son will attend business school at New York University (NYU), according to former president Donald Trump.

      “He’ll be going to Stern Business School, which is a great school at NYU,” the 45th president said in an interview with Daily Mail released Wednesday.

      “It’s a very high-quality place. He liked it. He liked the school. We like NYU. I’ve known NYU for a long time. But it’s one of the highest-rated,” Trump said of his youngest son’s college choice.

      Noting that he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s business school, Trump said, “I went to Wharton and that’s certainly one we were considering. We didn’t do that. We went to Stern.”

      The 18-year-old Trump who graduated from high school in May from the Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, Fla. was “accepted to a lot of colleges,” the ex-commander in chief said, praising his son as a “very smart guy.”

      “He’s a very high-aptitude child. But he’s no longer a child, he just passed into something beyond childdom. He’s doing great.”

      Barron Trump, with a backpack swung over his shoulder, was seen entering NYU Wednesday accompanied by a security detail.

      Judge Responds To Trump Request To Move Hush Money Case To Federal Court

      By
      Madeleine Jackson
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      4
      Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

      Case closed…

      On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that former President Trump may not request to move his hush money criminal case to federal court after failing to show “good cause,” meaning the case will remain in New York state court.

      U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said in a four-page order that the two reasons Trump offered as to why his case should be removed fall short.

      Hellerstein said that district courts do not have jurisdiction to consider alleged bias against Trump in New York state courts, contending that’s an issue for state appellate courts to consider. That means Trump’s second argument, on presidential immunity, is the only one that “deserves attention,” he said.

      On that matter, Hellerstein previously ruled that “hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a President’s official acts.”

      “Nothing in the Supreme Court’s opinion affects my previous conclusion that the hush money payments were private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority,” the judge said Tuesday.

      In a Thursday letter to Juan Merchan, he asked the trial judge to refrain from ruling on outstanding motions, which include his presidential immunity motion and a motion to push back his Sept. 18 sentencing

      Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election.

      Read the full court order below:

      gov.uscourts.nysd.598311.50.0Download

      Politician Who Left The Democrat Party Endorses Trump For President

      By
      Madeleine Jackson
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      3
      Date: 03-26-2024 Location: Bldg 30 MCC, FCR-1, Bldg 9N Subject: Texas Governor Gregg Abbott tour of JSC on March 26 Photo Credit: NASA/James Blair

      Another Democrat is calling it quits and backing Donald Trump for President…

      A Texas state lawmaker from the Houston area announced Friday that she is leaving the “almost unrecognizable” Democratic Party.

      In an announcement Friday, State Rep. Shawn Tierry explained that she made the switch because the Democratic Party has “veered so far left, so deep into the progressive abyss, that it now champions policies that I cannot, in good conscience, support,” the Texas Tribune reported.

      “As a woman, a mother, and a lawmaker, I have dedicated my life to championing the values that fortify our families and uplift our communities. After much reflection, prayer, and soul-searching, I have come to a decision that aligns with my core values and the best interests of our beloved country,” Tierry further explained in an X post.

      “For my entire adult life, I have voted as a Democrat. I was raised in a household with my amazing parents who believed the Democratic Party was the party of the people—a beacon of justice and opportunity for all,” she continued. “But as the years have passed, I have watched with dismay as the party I once knew has drifted far from its roots. It has become almost unrecognizable—radicalized and increasingly out of touch with the values that millions of everyday Americans hold dear.”

      Thierry also noted how the left stifles debate, silences dissent, and demands “blind allegiance to ideology.”

      The former Democrat received a standing ovation on Friday night when she formally announced her decision at a Moms For Liberty event.

      “The Democratic Party has moved so far back, so deep into the progressive abyss, that it now champions policies that I cannot, in good conscience, support. Policies like promoting sex changes for vulnerable children, dismantling Title IX protections for women and girls in sports. This is not the party that I grew up with,” Thierry explained.

      “And so it’s today, at such a time as this, that I am officially announcing that I am leaving the race and the life of the Democratic Party.”

      Thierry was recently defeated in a primary election after she voted to ban gender reassignment surgeries for children and bar biological men from competing in women’s sports.

      Piers Morgan Bets Former White House Official $1000 Trump Will Win Election

      By
      Madeleine Jackson
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      6

      Ex-White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci is putting his money where his mouth is…

      Recently, Scaramucci bet journalist Piers Morgan’s $1000 bet that his old boss, former President Donald Trump, would lose the 2024 presidential election.

      Citing the tweet during an interview on his show Piers Morgan Uncensored on Monday night, the host asked: “Do you stand by it? And if you do, will you accept a $1000 bet from me right now that Trump isn’t going to pull out?”

      Hesitant, Scaramucci replied: “Well, I’ll bet you $1000 on the election, I don’t know if I’m going to bet on the pullout. I mean, he’s got to drop more substantially in the polls.”

      Expanding on his answers he continued to outline the gap in polling numbers between the two candidates: “You know, he’s down with the likely voters. If she opens up a lead, 12 to 15 points, he’s not going to want to lose to her. He’s the worst presidential candidate for the Republicans since Herbert Hoover. He’s lost the House, the Senate and the presidency. And if [Florida Governor Ron] DeSantis or Nikki Haley were running against Kamala Harris, they’d probably be up 10 or 15. So we’ll have to see. But on likely voters, he’s already down six. And I like her momentum.”

      Watch:

      He added: “I understand all the issues that you’re raising related to her. But unfortunately, there’s only two choices. There’s him and her. And I think I would implore people to read H.R. McMaster’s book if they get a chance, because he’s very honest and very objective about the insanity that is Donald Trump.”

      Seeing the bet as non-viable, Morgan pivoted to the election bet, which the ex-Trump staffer accepted.

      “A thousand dollars on the election,” Scaramucci said. “I got Kamala. You can take the orange man if you want. I’m done on that part.”

      Morgan accepted too: “I’ll tell you what, we’ll make you for charity. We’ll make you for charity. I’ll take that bet. I still think Trump’s going to win. I’m not an American citizen. I don’t have a vote. I don’t have a horse in the race. I just think reality is going to kick in.”

      Watch: Former GOP Senator Breaks With Trump

        By
        Madeleine Jackson
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        4
        Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

        A well-known former Republican Senator doesn’t plan to support Donald Trump in the 2024 November election – or Kamala Harris for that matter.

        Former Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey said during an interview on CNBC that he voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 but is firmly against casting a ballot for Trump again.

        “When you lose an election and you try to overturn the results so that you can stay in power, you lose me. You lose me at that point,” Toomey said during a contentious back-and-forth exchange with “Squawk Box” host Joe Kernen.

        Watch:

        Toomey acknowledged he doesn’t support Harris and views many of her policies as economically disastrous.

        “I acknowledge that the outcome is a binary situation, but my choice is not,” Toomey said when Kernen insisted the former senator would in essence be voting to benefit Harris by not voting for Trump.

        “It is an acceptable position for me to say that neither of these candidates can be my choice for president,” Toomey said.

        Toomey argued Republican control of the Senate would be “essential” to keep Harris in check if she’s elected to the Oval Office.

        “The answer to that is Republican control of the Senate and that is absolutely essential,” he said of the prospect of Harris proposing major tax increases as president.

        “If the other side runs the table, then Katie bar the door. They will repeal the filibuster, and they will be dragged by their left wing, which clearly is in charge now — and I think Kamala Harris proved that with her vice presidential selection,” he warned, referring to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

        He predicted Harris would push “huge tax increases” and “some version of ‘Medicare for All’” if she is elected president.

        “The good news is I think Republicans are going to take the Senate,” he said.

        Former GOP Official Abruptly Cuts Ties With Trump Campaign

        By
        Madeleine Jackson
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        2
        Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

        Good riddance…

        A senior adviser to the Trump campaign announced on Monday that a top volunteer for former President Donald Trump in Massachusetts would “no longer have any involvement” with the campaign after predicting a massive loss this November.

        Former Massachusetts state GOP official Tom Mountain claimed in an email to other volunteers this week that the campaign had “determined that New Hampshire is no longer a battleground state,” and that Trump was “sure to lose by an even higher margin” in the state than in 2016 and 2020.

        According to the Boston Globe, which obtained a copy of the email, Mountain also “claimed resources would be suspended” in New Hampshire and that “the campaign would not send Trump or high-profile surrogates such as his sons.”

        Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes announced in a statement on Monday that Mountain would “no longer have any involvement” with the Trump campaign as a result of his “ridiculous misrepresentation of our ongoing operation in New Hampshire.”

        Hughes rejected references to Mountain as a “leading volunteer,” calling the label a “massive overstatement of his involvement,” and denied Mountain’s claims about resources in New Hampshire being suspended.

        “This isn’t true,” he said. “President Trump’s campaign maintains an on-the-ground presence in New Hampshire, including staff and offices, while Kamala Harris is parachuting in because she knows that the Granite State is in play. We look forward to building on the momentum that we have grown since the primary and sending New Hampshire’s four electoral votes to President Trump’s column on November 5.”

        According to RealClearPolitics’s poll average, Vice President Kamala Harris is currently ahead of Trump by 5% in New Hampshire.

        Anti-Trump Biopic Secures US Release Date – And It’s Right Before Election Day

          By
          Patrick Houck
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          1
          Gage Skidmore Flickr

          The controversial anti-Trump biopic “The Apprentice” has secured a U.S. release date despite efforts to block the film.

          And it’s arriving just in time for Election Day.

          Directed by Ali Abbasi, “The Apprentice” is a highly contentious movie that delves into the early career of former President Donald Trump. The movie explores Trump’s rise to power, aided by Bronx-born attorney and New York City political fixer Roy Cohn.

          Mediaite’s Jamie Frevele’s has more information on the film and its Oct. 11, 2024 release date:

          The Trump campaign also threatened to sue to stop the film from being released. In a statement, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said: “This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked.” He also called the possible pre-election release of the film “election interference by Hollywood elites.”

          The Apprentice premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May and received an eight-minute standing ovation.

          One of the film’s most controversial scenes depicts Trump’s character raping his first wife, Ivana. During their 1989 divorce proceedings, Ivana accused Trump of rape, though she later clarified her statement. She said that while she felt “violated” during the incident, she didn’t mean it in a “literal or criminal sense,” describing it as a situation where one spouse becomes very angry and offended by the other. The accusation resurfaced during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, but Ivana consistently downplayed it, stating she never intended it to be interpreted as a criminal accusation.

          There was uncertainty about the film’s U.S. release due to a dispute with financier Kinematics, backed by Trump supporter Dan Snyder. Snyder reportedly took offense at the film’s portrayal of Trump after seeing a rough cut, having allegedly been led to believe that the film would present a more favorable depiction of the former – and possibly future – president.

          Article Published With The Permission of American Liberty News.

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