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Trump Files Series Of Motions In D.C. Election Interference Case

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Gage Skidmore Flickr

Former President Trump attempted to distance himself from the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol in a series of late-night legal motions.

Former President Trump’s legal team is asking a judge to toss his prosecution in his federal election interference case.

The Daily Beast reports that in one motion, Trump filed to dismiss his federal 2020 election subversion case, citing First Amendment rights surrounding Trump’s belief the election as stolen and claiming the indictment, “taken as true, violates this core principle.”

“The fact that the indictment alleges that the speech at issue was supposedly, according to the prosecution, ‘false’ makes no difference,” the defense wrote. “Under the First Amendment, each individual American participating in a free marketplace of ideas — not the federal Government — decides for him or herself what is true and false on great disputed social and political questions.”

“President Trump’s opinion on the subject was just that — an opinion formed based on his view of the available information. Virtually every American, including the cited public officials, had similar access to much of this same information, including a mountain of publicly reported facts and opinions, which were the subject of wall-to-wall media coverage throughout the post-election period and beyond,” they wrote.

“Each official thus had every opportunity to form his or her own conclusions, just like President Trump.”

The second motion seeks dismissal on statutory grounds, arguing, “The prosecution does not explain how President Trump violated these statutes, beyond simply saying he has while regurgitating the statutory language.”

The third motion asks Judge Chutkan to remove “repeated references to the actions of independent actors at the Capitol on January 6, 2021” from his indictment, claiming Trump was not charged “with responsibility for the actions at the Capitol” and therefore the “allegations related to these actions are not relevant and are prejudicial and inflammatory.”

“Because the Government has not charged President Trump with responsibility for the actions at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, allegations related to these actions are not relevant and are prejudicial and inflammatory. Therefore, the Court should strike these allegations from the Indictment,” his attorneys wrote in a motion to strike “inflammatory allegations” from Trump’s indictment. 

The fourth saw Trump request dismissal “on the basis of selective and vindictive prosecution.”

“These demands place an unacceptable burden on President Trump to foreshadow a possible formal defense,” they wrote.

Jenna Ellis Takes Plea Deal In Georgia Election Case

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis became the fourth defendant to plead guilty in the Georgia election interference case on Tuesday.

According to reports from ABC News, Ellis is pleading guilty to one count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings.

Recently, defendants Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, and Scott Hall took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.

Ellis, who described herself as part of an “elite strike force team” of attorneys combating unfounded claims of election fraud, pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings.

“If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post election challenges,” a tearful Ellis told the judge.

“How do you plead to aiding and abetting false statements and writings,” Fulton County prosecutor Daysha Young asked.

“Guilty,” Ellis responded.

She was sentenced to five years of probation, 100 hours of community service and ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution and write a letter of apology to Georgia citizens.

In August, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis indicted former President Trump and 18 others for trying to overturn his 2020 defeat in Georgia.

Report: Trump To File For New Hampshire Primary In Person

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Donald Trump is reportedly planning to file for the New Hampshire primary in person this week.

The filing period for New Hampshire’s presidential primary opened earlier this month, and the window closes Oct. 27. 

A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign confirmed reporting from The Associated Press that Trump will visit the Granite State’s secretary of state office to formally file ahead of a campaign rally in Derry. 

Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan (N.H.) and New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley held a press conference Monday ahead of Trump’s formal filing in the state to talk about the former president’s “failures.”

“As Trump files for the [New Hampshire] primary today, Granite Staters are remembering just how disastrous his presidency was for our state,” Buckley said.

“Trump has proven over and over that we cannot trust him with New Hampshire’s economy or important crises — at home or on the world stage.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who have polled as some of Trump’s top challengers in the GOP primary, have already filed, according to the latest posting from the New Hampshire secretary of state. 

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Vice President Mike Pence, Trump’s ex-running mate, are also among the GOP White House hopefuls who have already signed up. 

Trump Supporter Sentenced To Prison Over Voting Memes

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    Image via Pixabay

    A Trump supporter has been sentenced to seven months in prison after he was convicted of election interference over social media posts.

    Douglass Mackey was accused of a “scheme to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote,” after a Twitter account he ran under the handle “Ricky Vaughn” posted memes in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. One image showed a black woman standing in front of an “African Americans for Hillary” sign and said “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home,” “Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925.”

    The Justice Department said around 4,900 unique telephone numbers texted the hotline although it was unclear how many were participating in the joke rather than trying to cast their ballots.

    Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey suspended Mackey from the platform.

    Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Ann M. Donnelly, an Obama appointee, sentenced Mackey, claiming that his actions were “nothing short of an assault on our democracy” and amounted to attempts “injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate” people from exercising their right to vote according to Courthouse News Service.

    “Voting is the right that secures all other rights we hold dear,” Department of Justice Attorney Erik David Paulsen said. “They were committing fraud, one that was aimed at one of our most sacred rights in our democracy.”

    Prosecutors also took aim at Mackey for derogatory posts he had made toward black people and women, but Donnely said her sentence did not have to do with his political beliefs. “You are not being sentenced for your political beliefs or for expressing those beliefs,” she said.

    James Lawrence, an attorney for Mackey, previously said in an interview with The Daily Wire that his memes were satirical and were therefore not relevant to the law he purportedly violated. Mackey faced as many as 10 years in prison.

    Some have contended that Mackey’s right to free speech had been violated in a politically motivated case by the Biden administration. “It’s a three-fer: the prosecutorial creation of a crime Congress has not prescribed, the trivialization of civil-rights law, and the intrusion of government as a monitor of political speech,” former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy wrote in an opinion piece for National Review.

    Report: Fox News Pulls The Plug On Trump Interviews

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    Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Is Fox News icing out former President Donald Trump?

    New reports indicate the media giant has potentially been blackballed from making appearances on the conservative network for the considerable future.

    “In recent months, Trump’s inner circle has become increasingly convinced that Fox News is essentially sidelining the former president by restricting live appearances on their network,” reported Zachary Petrizzo. “‘Trump is not allowed live on Fox,’ a Trump operative told The Daily Beast, chalking it up to ‘fear’ that Trump could level a baseless allegation that could leave the network in a legal mess. A Trump adviser told The Daily Beast a similar story — that the former president isn’t allowed on live air anymore. At the very least, this person said, Fox News prefers to have Trump in a pre-recorded setting. ‘Fox sent down word from the top that they don’t want to ‘platform’ Trump like they did before,’ a Trump adviser told The Daily Beast. ‘I find it hilarious. For one, it sounds like something MSNBC would do.'”

    “After a lengthy hiatus last year, Trump re-emerged on Fox News this past March,” said the report. “However, following Trump’s absence, the former president only came back in a diminished capacity. Starting in March of 2023, Trump conducted a string of interviews with Fox hosts and anchors including Sean Hannity, Bret Baier, and Larry Kudlow. But gone are the days of Trump simply calling in live and offering his stream of consciousness. According to a search by The Daily Beast and Media Matters for America, Trump last phoned in live to a Fox News program in April of 2022.”

    Trump’s relationship with Fox News has deteriorated since leaving the White House but the current Republican presidential frontrunner has still made a number of appearances with the network in past months. The report noted that the network’s distance from Trump could also be a result of a recent settlement with Dominion Voting Systems.

    Trump has fired off repeated attacks against the network over its coverage of the former President.

    Second Trump Lawyer Pleads Guilty In Georgia Case

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    Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

    A second Trump attorney has pleaded guilty in the Georgia election interference case brought by District Attorney Fani Willis.

    On Friday, Kenneth Chesebro agreed to testify truthfully in any future case proceedings and write a letter of apology to Georgia citizens.

    According to reports from The Hill, Fulton County prosecutor Daysha Young told the court that if the case had gone to trial, the state would have shown that Chesebro — along with Trump, Rudy Giuliani and other co-defendants — entered a criminal conspiracy to cause other co-conspirators to “falsely hold themselves out as the duly elected and qualified electors for the president and vice president from Georgia following the Nov. 3, 2020, presidential election.” 

    Young also said that Chesebro was present at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when an inflamed pro-Trump mob stormed the building while the certification of the presidential election was underway. 

    “Are you pleading guilty because you agree that there’s a factual basis that supports this remaining charge?” McAfee asked Chesebro. 

    “Yes, this charge,” Chesebro replied. 

    McAfee accepted the agreement. 

    Chesebro was also sentenced to five years of probation, 100 hours of community service and ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution.

    He was originally charged with seven felony counts linked to the alternate electors scheme, for which he drafted multiple memos detailing strategies for how slates of pro-Trump individuals could falsely claim to be their states’ valid electors.  However, Under the plea agreement, Chesebro will only be charged with one of those counts, conspiracy to commit filing false documents. 

    Chesebro’s guilty plea comes a day after Sidney Powell also pleaded guilty. (RELATED: Sidney Powell Pleads Guilty In Georgia Election Interference Case)

    Far-right Billionaire Peter Thiel Revealed as FBI Informant

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      Far-right billionaire investor Peter Thiel was revealed as an FBI informant as recently as 2021, according to a new report from Insider.

      Insider reports:

      In order to be added to this database, multiple layers of approval are typically required, and only those able to provide “valuable information … on a recurring basis” are given CHS status. Once admitted to the CHS database, informants are then given a code name and a serial number to categorize reports.

      The source added that Thiel’s status as an FBI informant is meant to be a way for the billionaire to distance himself from the MAGA movement, which has repeatedly assailed both the FBI and the US Department of Justice in response to investigations focused on former President Donald Trump. Johnson told Insider that he believes Thiel is primarily informing on foreign governments’ attempts to cement themselves within Silicon Valley. Johnson added that Thiel was explicitly told to not inform on former President Donald Trump or other US political figures.

      Peter Thiel, who was the first outside investor in Facebook, became influential within the Republican Party in 2016, when he pledged $1.25 million to elect Trump and endorsed him at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Thiel then served on then-President-elect Trump’s transition team. And in the 2022 midterm elections, Thiel backed MAGA US Senate candidate and ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author JD Vance with a $10 million super PAC donation. Vance went on to attack the FBI, falsely accusing agents of wiretapping his phone. Thiel also put $15 million toward a super PAC backing Arizona Republican US Senate candidate Blake Masters, who went on to lose the general election to incumbent Senator Mark Kelly (D-Arizona).

      New Polls Show Trump’s Competitive Edge In Most Swing States

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      Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

      Democrats are freaking out but the numbers don’t lie…

      Multiple new polls show that former President Donald Trump is currently leading President Joe Biden in many of the most critical swing states.

      The polls, conducted by Bloomberg News & Morning Consult, were taken in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — seven key battlegrounds. And the returns don’t for Biden — specifically when it comes to the economy.

      Mediaite has more:

      “Swing state voters trust Trump significantly more than Biden on the economy (49% to 35%), with independents holding even less trust in Biden on this key issue (47% to 25%),” Morning Consult reported. “Among the 1,323 self-identified independents across the seven states, Biden is 10 points behind Trump on the ballot that includes third-party candidates, and he is 8 points behind Trump in a direct head-to-head.”

      As for the state-by-state results, in Arizona, Biden is polling at 43 percent while Trump has 47 percent. Biden is also trailing Georgia (Trump 48-Biden 43), North Carolina (Trump 47-Biden 43), Pennsylvania (Trump 46-Biden 45) and Wisconsin (Trump 46-Biden 44)

      The Michigan poll shows Trump and Biden in a 44 percent deadlock, and Nevada is the only battleground where Biden is shown to be leading — with 46 percent to Trump’s 43. The poll determined in a closed matchup between Biden and Trump, the former president leads his successor by 4 points overall.

      Biden defeated Trump in all but one of these battleground states during the 2020 election.

      ‘DeSantis Airways’ – Florida Governor Evacuates 300 Americans from Israel

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      Ron DeSantis via Gage Skidmore Flickr

      ANALYSIS – ‘DeSantis Airways’ – Nonstop migrant flights to Martha’s Vineyard and return flights from Israel.’ In an act more befitting a president than the governor of a state, Republican Ron DeSantis ordered Florida state-funded flights to quickly rescue nearly 300 Americans, including 91 children, stranded in war-torn Israel. 

      At least 30 Americans are listed as murdered by Hamas so far. Another 13 remain missing. Florida officials estimate that around 20,000 U.S. citizens (AMCITS) remain in Israel unable to return home.

      DeSantis chided Joe Biden for not doing enough to rescue stranded Americans.

      “There was a devoid [sic] of leadership so we stepped up and led,” DeSantis said Sunday night in a video posted on X.

      “Today we welcomed nearly 300 Americans who have been in Israel since last week, when the violent attacks by Hamas terrorists began,” DeSantis wrote.

      The Republican presidential hopeful authorized the Florida Department of Emergency Management to carry out “logistical, rescue and evacuation operations” for Florida residents still in Israel.

      Florida officials partnered with Project Dynamo, an international search and rescue non-profit, to organize the flights.

      One plane carrying seven evacuees landed late night Sunday in Orlando and the other in Tampa, where DeSantis was on hand to meet with over 270 evacuees and four of their dogs. This the first of a planned series of evacuation flights.

      The DeSantis executive order also enables the department to transport “necessary supplies” to Israel.

      The state’s move supplements slow-going federal efforts to evacuate U.S. citizens from Israel due to the limited availability of commercial flights leaving the country. 

      Commercial airlines have canceled hundreds of flights out of Israel as Hamas wages war against Israeli civilians. 

      Only a trickle of charter flights has been going in and out regularly.

      DeSantis also said this weekend that the U.S. should refuse to take refugees from Gaza, claiming during a campaign event in Iowa that, “They are all anti-Semitic” and that Palestinians should go to the “Arab states.”

      While I may not agree that all the residents of Gaza are anti-Semitic, the Hamas brainwashing there is intense and systematic. And thanks to Biden, our immigration system is overwhelmed.  DeSantis is right to have fellow Arab states take in those refugees. 

      Team Biden belatedly began arranging chartered flights on Friday for U.S. citizens trapped in Israel to head to Europe, not the U.S., but they will be required to repay Uncle Sam. And no pets allowed.

      Meanwhile, the swiftness of the DeSantis effort should be applauded. 

      “I am proud of how quickly we have been able to activate resources and do what the federal government could not — get Floridians and other Americans back home,” DeSantis said in a statement.

      National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also confirmed on Thursday that in addition to chartered flights, the federal government would explore the possibility of evacuating citizens “by land and by sea.”

      American citizens in need of assistance in Israel who want to wait for Biden’s help can complete an intake form found at travel.state.gov and standby.

      Some have criticized former president Donald Trump for not sending his own 757 airliner, dubbed ‘Trump Force One’ to Israel to bring back Americans. That would have been a great gesture and a major media coup. 

      But Trump has been dealing with blowback to his earlier comments calling Hezbollah terrorists ‘very smart’ and bashing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a personal squabble.

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

      Biden Lied About Classified Documents Found at His Homes and Office

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      Photo via Pixabay images

      ANALYSIS – While much of the establishment media dutifully informed us that Special Counsel Robert Hur’s recent interview of Joe Biden regarding his alleged mishandling of classified materials signals the investigation is ending, ‘with nothing there,’ it could just be the beginning.

      In a bombshell new discovery, it appears that Biden may have been lying about those classified documents all along.

      I have previously noted that former president Donald Trump improperly held on to classified documents mostly out of vanity, gave multiple bogus justifications for having them, refused to give them all back, moved them around, and essentially dared the Biden Department of Justice (DoJ) to come after him – which it did.

      Had he returned all the materials he had in his possession, I have argued, DoJ likely would not have raided his Mar-a-Lago home and found damning evidence to indict him. None of the charges against Trump in that case are tied to materials he earlier returned to authorities.

      Biden, and former vice president Mike Pence, seemed to have behaved quite differently when they discovered classified materials. Both supposedly quickly returned documents they had held improperly at their homes or private offices. 

      This was a big difference with Trump’s actions.

      Well, that may be true of Pence, but not of Biden, who seems to have a much more tangled web of deceit surrounding his classified materials that date back to his time as vice president and even senator.

      As Jonathan Turley, Professor of Public Interest Law at the George Washington University Law School notes in The Hill: “The most glaring problem [with Biden’s case] is that, after they were removed at the end of his term as vice president, the documents were repeatedly moved and divided up.”

      That sounds a lot like what Trump did, but going back much farther, and for potentially far more sinister motives.

      Turley added:

      Biden made clear from the beginning that he expected the investigation to be perfunctory and brief. He publicly declared that he has “no regrets” over his own conduct and told the public that the documents investigation would soon peter out when it determined that “there is no ‘there’ there.”

      Now, however, it appears that a critical claim by the White House in the scandal may not only be false but was knowingly false at the time it was made. The White House and Biden’s counsel have long maintained that, as soon as documents were discovered in the D.C. office, they notified the national archives. Many asked why they did not call the FBI, but the White House has at least maintained that, unlike Trump, they took immediate action to notify authorities.

      However, it now appears that this was not true. One of the closest aides to Biden and a close friend to Hunter Biden is Annie Tomasini. She referred to Hunter as her “brother” and signed off messages with “LY” or “love you.”

      Tomasini was once a senior aide to Joe Biden and, according to the Oversight Committee, inspected the classified material on March 18, 2021, two months after Biden took office — nearly 20 months before they were said to be found by the Biden team.

      The Oversight Committee released a new timeline of when the classified documents were discovered.

      As Turley notes, “the committee now alleges that the White House “omitted months of communications, planning, and coordinating among multiple White House officials, [Kathy] Chung, Penn Biden Center employees, and President Biden’s personal attorneys to retrieve the boxes containing classified materials.”

      This is huge. It means Biden repeatedly lied about when his staff discovered classified materials in his private residences and offices, and Team Biden had 20 months to tamper with, hide or otherwise dispose of evidence.

      While a sitting president can’t be indicted according to existing DoJ policy, that could be changed. Beyond that, this new information has already been added to an increasingly heated impeachment inquiry by the GOP-led House.

      The question being asked now by House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) is: How many of the documents improperly kept by Biden related to the countries the Biden family engaged with as part of their alleged foreign influence peddling scheme?

      If there were any, that could mean there is “a lot more ‘there,’ there,” than Biden claimed.

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