Home Blog Page 74

Appeals Court Overturns Republican Lawmaker’s Conviction

By
Madeleine Jackson
-
1
Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

How embarrassing…

President Biden’s Department of Justice was humiliated by a recent federal appeals court decision to overturn ex-Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s (R-Neb.) conviction of lying to the FBI about an illegal campaign contribution.

Last year, a California jury convicted Fortenberry for false statements he made during interviews in Nebraska and the nation’s capital over an illegal campaign donation from a foreign national.

The Republican lawmaker resigned from his seat in Congress and was sentenced to two years of probation, a $25,000 fine and 320 hours of community service. However, the federal appeals court ruled that because Fortenberry was tired in the proper venue his conviction must be overturned.

“Fortenberry’s trial took place in a state where no charged crime was committed, and before a jury drawn from the vicinage of the federal agencies that investigated the defendant,” wrote U.S. District Judge James Donato, who sat on the appeals court by designation. 

“The Constitution does not permit this. Fortenberry’s convictions are reversed so that he may be retried, if at all, in a proper venue,” the 23-page opinion continued.

According to reports from The Hill, authorities charged Fortenberry after accepting a $30,200 donation from a Nigerian businessman to the then-congressman’s campaign at a 2016 fundraising event in California. Fortenberry told investigators that he was unaware of any illegal contributions to his campaign. But court filings indicate the agency had listened into an earlier phone call, in which a cooperating witness told Fortenberry that the Nigerian businessman was likely the source of the $30,200 donation. 

Federal law prohibits campaign contributions from foreign nationals to any local, state or federally elected official.

“We are gratified by the Ninth Circuit’s decision. Celeste and I would like to thank everyone who has stood by us and supported us with their kindness and friendship,” Fortenberry said in a statement.

While the appeals court decision reverses Fortenberry’s sentence, the ex-lawmaker could still be retried in the proper venue.

Report: President Bill Clinton Among Those Hidden In Epstein Documents

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    3
    Hillary Clinton via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Former President Bill Clinton is going to be identified as one of several John Does in previously redacted documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein according to reports.

    Fox News’ Alexandria Hoff reported Monday that Clinton “is not the only big name expected to be released.” 

    Fox News has more:

    “There are more than 150 individuals identified only as John or Jane Does, but the legal masking is about to come off,” Hoff said Monday on “FOX & Friends.” 

    Last month, a federal judge in New York ordered the unsealing of dozens of documents naming people linked to the disgraced financier.

    “The Manhattan federal judge ruled that there was no justification to continue to have documents sealed in a settled case involving an Epstein accuser,” Hoff said. “The documents are expected to be unredacted and released as early as tomorrow, and among those named, former President Bill Clinton, that’s according to ABC News.”

    ABC News reported Sunday that Clinton will be named but “there is no indication the sealed records contain evidence of illegal conduct” by the former president. Clinton is mentioned more than 50 times in the redacted filings, ABC News reported. 

    Epstein, already a convicted sex offender in Florida, died at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York while awaiting federal trial for sex trafficking in 2019. His death was ruled a suicide. 

    Biden’s Support Dips Among Key Voting Blocs As Trump Surges Ahead

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    0
    Joe Biden via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Not a good start to the New Year for Joe Biden…

    The latest poll conducted by USA Today and Suffolk University reported Biden is losing with several of the key demographics that helped him win the White House in 2020.

    The Hill has more:

    Biden earned 34 percent support among Hispanic voters surveyed, compared to Trump’s 39 percent. That marks a large decline since 2020, when Biden earned 65 percent of the demographic group.

    The president has also lost support from Black voters. After carrying 87 percent support in the demographic in 2020, Biden now has just 63 percent, the survey found.

    His support from younger voters has dropped as well. In 2020, Biden crushed Trump by 24 points among the group. But the survey found that Trump now leads among voters under 35 with 37 percent support to Biden’s 33 percent.

    However, the USA Today poll noted that many Black voters are opting to shift their support to third party candidates instead of Trump.

    Twenty percent of Hispanic and Black voters surveyed and 21 percent of younger voters say they will support someone other than Trump or Biden.

    Boebert To Run For Congress In Neighboring District

      By
      admin
      -
      0
      Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

      Republican Lauren Boebert is no longer seeking reelection in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.

      Instead, the MAGA representative is running for the neighboring seat of Colorado’s 4th District, which has a considerably redder hue.

      Boebert’s decision comes little more than a year after she eked out reelection by the narrowest of margins – 546 votes out of 327,000 – against Democrat Adam Frisch. Boebert has represented the sprawling 3rd District since 2021 after she defeated five-term incumbent Republican Scott Tipton in a bruising primary battle. Then-President Donald Trump endorsed Tipton before the primary, but Boebert’s conservative bona fides and outspoken support for Trump won her adoration from grassroots conservatives.

      Nonetheless, her combative style and controversies caused enough voters to shun her and transformed the traditionally Republican district into a hotly contested seat, at least temporarily.

      The Colorado Sun’s Jesse Paul hinted that Boebert’s concerns about a presidential election year rematch with Frisch influenced her decision to jump to a far more favorable GOP seat:

      The 3rd District leans 9 percentage points in Republicans’ favor while the 4th District leans 27 points toward the GOP, according to a nonpartisan analysis of election results from 2016 to 2020 by staffers for the Colorado legislature. Boebert doesn’t have to live in the 4th District to represent it.

      “I did not arrive at this decision easily,” Boebert said in a Facebook video announcing the move. “A lot of prayer, a lot of tough conversations and a lot of perspective convinced me that this is the best way I can continue to fight for Colorado, for the conservative movement and for my children’s future.”

      The bombshell news comes as Boebert’s reelection chances in the 3rd District look dim.

      Her narrow victory in 2022 was seen as a referendum on her boisterous behavior in Congress — including interrupting President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in 2022 and making an Islamophobic joke about Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. Her image was further tarnished when she and a male companion were ejected in September from a performance in Denver of the musical “Beetlejuice” for talking loudly, vaping and using her phone.

      Surveillance cameras in the theater also recorded her and her date engaging in intimate behavior.

      Boebert’s path to representing the 4th District is wide open. Its current representative, Rep. Ken Buck (R), announced his plans to retire at the end of this term.

      This article was republished with permission from American Liberty News.

      Haley Says She Would Pardon Trump As President

        By
        Madeleine Jackson
        -
        3
        The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

        Presidential candidate Nikki Haley said on Thursday that, if elected president, she would pardon former President Trump, arguing it would be “in the best interest of the country.”

        “I would pardon Trump,” Haley said at a campaign event, according to a video captured by NBC News.

        “If he is found guilty, a leader needs to think about what’s in the best interest of the country,” Haley said. “What’s in the best interest of the country is not to have an 80-year-old man sitting in jail, that continues to divide our country.”

        “What’s in the best interest of the country would be to pardon him, so that we can move on as a country and no longer talk about him,” she added.

        Haley has recently enjoyed a bump in her polling numbers, but still, former President Trump leads the pack of GOP candidates by more than 50 points.

        Trump faces four criminal cases, for a total of 91 criminal counts for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

        Trump Disqualified From Maine Primary Ballot

        By
        Madeleine Jackson
        -
        4
        Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

        It’s happened again and the fight is just now heating up…

        On Wednesday evening, Maine’s Secretary of State disqualified Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 primary ballot.

        In her ruling, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which bans from office those who “engaged in insurrection.” 

        Trump Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung derided Bellows as “a virulent leftist and a hyper-partisan Biden-supporting Democrat who has decided to interfere in the presidential election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden.” 

        “We are witnessing, in real-time, the attempted theft of an election and the disenfranchisement of the American voter,” Cheung said. “Democrats in blue states are recklessly and un-Constitutionally suspending the civil rights of the American voters by attempting to summarily remove President Trump’s name from the ballot. 

        “Make no mistake, these partisan election interference efforts are a hostile assault on American democracy. Biden and the Democrats simply do not trust the American voter in a free and fair election and are now relying on the force of government institutions to protect their grip on power.”

        Decision-in-Challenge-to-Trump-Presidential-Primary-PetitionsDownload

        The Maine Republican Party likened the ruling to an attack on democracy. 

        “Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, once named the most progressive Senate candidate in America, unilaterally threw Donald Trump off the ballot,” Maine GOP said in a statement. 

        “The Maine Republican Party has been fighting these backroom elites since they started their push to subvert democracy by tossing President Trump. Rest assured we’ll be fighting this in court — all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. And we reserve our right as a private organization to use a caucus system if that’s what it takes to keep a Democrat Hack Secretary of State from infringing on the Rights of Maine voters.” 

        The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to make a final decision on Trump’s eligibility nationwide.

        Colorado Secretary Of State To Put Trump’s Name Back On The Ballot

        By
        Madeleine Jackson
        -
        1
        Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

        On Wednesday, the Colorado Republican Party filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision made by the Colorado Supreme Court, which disqualified Donald Trump from appearing on the state’s presidential ballot. The disqualification was due to his alleged involvement in the U.S. Capitol riot and the subsequent application of the “insurrection” clause of the United States Constitution.

        Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) announced on Thursday afternoon that Trump will remain on the ballot printed on Jan. 5, unless the United States Supreme Court upholds the lower court’s decision or declines the appeal.

        Griswold expressed her displeasure on X/Twitter and called on the Supreme Court to uphold the earlier decision.

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

        This article was republished with permission from American Liberty News.

        Melania Missing From Famous Trump Christmas Celebration, This Is Why

          By
          Madeleine Jackson
          -
          1
          The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

          Reports reveal former First Lady Melania Trump spent her holidays with her ailing mother.

          A source close to the former first lady told Fox News Digital that she did not attend the Trump family Christmas celebration at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, earlier this week so that she could spend time with her ailing mother. 

          “Melania has always been very devoted to her entire family,” a source close to Melania Trump told Fox News Digital. “It should be no surprise that she spent this Christmas with her ailing mother.” 

          Page Six reported that Melania’s mother, Amalija Knavs, is in the hospital and is very sick.

          Former President Donald Trump and Melania’s son, Barron, attended the Christmas dinner with his father and other family members at Mar-a-Lago.

          The former first lady, in an interview with Fox News Digital earlier this year, said she fully supports her husband’s presidential campaign and looks forward to “restoring hope for the future and leading America with love and strength” during a possible second term in the White House. She told Fox News Digital it would be a “privilege” to serve as first lady again. 

          An unidentified source told Page Six that Trump recently struck a deal with Melania to step up her public appearances as the former First Lady has opted to largely stay out of the spotlight in recent years.

          “Trump and his family are so secure that he will become president again that insiders at Mar-a-Lago say he’s reached an agreement with Melania to step up top-tier diplomatic appearances in 2024,” the source reportedly told Page Six. “Melania realizes it’s her time to join the ranks of historic First Ladies and leave her mark on history … she feels better prepared for her potential role the second time around.”

          Trump Accuses GOP Primary Rivals Of Trying To Rig Iowa Caucus

          By
          Madeleine Jackson
          -
          1

          In a Tuesday video message, former President Donald Trump urged supporters to show up for the 2024 Iowa Caucus while accusing his opponents of cheating.

          Trump began the video clip posted to Truth Social by thanking his “Trump caucus captains” and urging them to “turn out” their voters on caucus night.

          “Teach them how to caucus. Take them in your car on caucus night. If you have to do whatever is necessary, we’ve got to get them in. We got to make America great again. So do whatever it takes. If you do, we will win and win big,” Trump said in what began as a fairly standard political message.

          Trump then accused the process of being rigged.

          “And that’s what you have to do. You know, the other side does cheat!” he insisted, adding:

          And we’re not going to let that happen. We cannot let that happen. But that’s what we need from you. Get in your car, get a lot of people and get down and caucus. Give a great speech for me. I hope you will. And I know you will have such confidence in you as you had in me. And you have in me.

          During the 2016 presidential contest, Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) beat Trump in the Iowa Caucus and was accused of cheating, according to Mediaite.

          “Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified,” Trump added and later threatened to sue.

          Special Counsel Seeks To Silence Trump Through 2020 Election Trial

          By
          Madeleine Jackson
          -
          2
          Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

          Special Counsel Jack Smith is asking a judge to prohibit former President Donald Trump from making “political attacks” about his federal 2020 election interference case set to go to trial in early spring.

          “Through public statements, filings, and argument in hearings before the Court, the defense has attempted to inject into this case partisan political attacks and irrelevant and prejudicial issues that have no place in a jury trial,” senior assistant special counsel Molly Gaston wrote in court papers filed Wednesday.

          “Although the Court can recognize these efforts for what they are and disregard them, the jury — if subjected to them — may not,” she continued. “The Court should not permit the defendant to turn the courtroom into a forum in which he propagates irrelevant disinformation, and should reject his attempt to inject politics into this proceeding.”

          Prosecutors’ motion asks the court to bar Trump and his lawyers from introducing evidence that suggests he is being selectively prosecuted, that prosecutors are coordinating with the Biden administration or that foreign actors interfered in the 2020 presidential election.

          It further urges U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the trial proceedings in Washington, to prohibit certain evidence related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. 

          Prosecutors are seeking to prevent Trump from placing blame on the National Guard or the D.C. mayor for the attack or from claiming undercover agents helped provoke violence.

          “Allowing the defendant to introduce evidence about undercover actors would inevitably lead to confusing minitrials on collateral issues, such as the identities and intentions of the alleged undercover actors,” prosecutors wrote. “For example, it may require the Government to introduce evidence to show that people whom the defendant alleges were undercover actors actually were his vehement supporters.”

          Trump is charged in the case with four federal felonies. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.

          The trial is currently slated for March 4, however, Trump’s appeals may interfere with the scheduled date.

          1...737475...194Page 74 of 194
          © Great America News Desk 2022