Donald Trump Announces 2016 White House Bid

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'HAVE TO BE CONSEQUENCES': Judge ups sentences for U.S. Capitol rioters
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Jan Wolfe and Mark Hosenball
Publishing date:Oct 13, 2021 • 18 hours ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
A mob of supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump climb through a window they broke as they storm the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.
A mob of supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump climb through a window they broke as they storm the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. PHOTO BY LEAH MILLIS /REUTERS
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WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Washington has repeatedly sentenced people who stormed the U.S. Capitol to more prison time than prosecutors sought, saying that even people who were not violent should face consequences for joining the unprecedented assault.

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In the past week, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has imposed sentences ranging from 14 to 45 days on four people who pleaded guilty to unlawful parading and picketing inside the Capitol building on Jan. 6 – a misdemeanour offence.


“There have to be consequences for participating in an attempted violent overthrow of the government, beyond sitting at home,” Chutkan said at one of the hearings.

More than 650 people have been charged with joining the Jan. 6 violence, when supporters of Republican Donald Trump fought with police, smashed windows and charged through the building in an attempt to overturn his election defeat. So far, more than 100 people have pleaded guilty, and at least 17 of those defendants have been sentenced.

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Four people died on the day of the violence, one shot dead by police and the other three of natural causes. A Capitol Police officer who had been attacked by protesters died the following day. Four police officers who took part in the defence of the Capitol later took their own lives. More than 100 police officers were injured.

On Wednesday, Chutkan sentenced two cousins who breached the Capitol and took selfies while doing so to 45 days in jail.


Prosecutors had asked Chutkan to sentence each of the defendants – Robert Bauer of Kentucky, and Edward Hemenway of Virginia – to 30 days in prison.

A day earlier, Chutkan sentenced an unrelated defendant, Dona Sue Bissey of Indiana, to two weeks of incarceration.

Prosecutors recommended Bissey, 52, serve probation, citing her early acceptance of responsibility and cooperation with law enforcement.

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Bissey’s friend, Anna Morgan-Lloyd, avoided jail time after pleading guilty to the same crime, receiving a sentence of three years of probation from a different judge in June.

Chutkan, a former public defender appointed to the federal judiciary by former President Barack Obama, last week sentenced another defendant who admitted to the misdemeanour charge, Matthew Mazzocco, to 45 days in prison.


That court hearing marked the first time that one of the judges overseeing the hundreds of Jan. 6 prosecutions imposed a sentence that was harsher than what the government asked for.

Chutkan is not the first judge to second-guess the Justice Department’s handling of the Jan. 6 prosecutions.

Beryl Howell, the chief judge of the federal court in Washington, has suggested prosecutors were being too lenient in allowing some defendants to plead guilty to misdemeanour offences.

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At a hearing in August, Howell said even defendants facing low-level offences played a role in “terrorizing members of Congress” on Jan 6.

During a plea hearing, the judge asked: “Does the government, in agreeing to the petty offence in this case, have any concern about deterrence?”

So far, no judge has rejected a plea deal offered by prosecutors in a Jan. 6 case.

Almost all of the defendants to be sentenced so far pleaded guilty to non-violent misdemeanours. The Justice Department has signaled that it plans to seek much stiffer penalties for felonies.

In the case of Florida man Paul Hodgkins, who pleaded guilty to one felony count of obstruction of an official proceeding, the Justice Department requested an 18 month sentence. U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss went lighter on Hodgkins, sentencing him to eight months.
 

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Trump sues U.S. House panel investigating Jan. 6 attack: Court document
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Publishing date:Oct 18, 2021 • 7 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
Former U.S. President Donald Trump reacts during his speech during a rally at the Iowa States Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., October 9, 2021.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump reacts during his speech during a rally at the Iowa States Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., October 9, 2021. PHOTO BY RACHEL MUMMEY /REUTERS
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WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit on Monday against the U.S. congressional committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, alleging it made an illegal request for his White House records.

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Trump asserted in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that materials sought by the House of Representatives’ Jan. 6 Select Committee are covered by a legal doctrine known as executive privilege, which protects the confidentiality of some communications between White House officials.


“The Committee’s requests are unprecedented in their breadth and scope and are untethered from any legitimate legislative purpose,” Trump’s lawyer Jesse Binnall wrote in the lawsuit.

Many legal experts have said Trump, as the former president, cannot lawfully use executive privilege to block the House panel’s requests for documents and testimony.


A mob of Trump supporters stormed the seat of Congress on Jan. 6 in a failed bid to prevent lawmakers from certifying Democratic President Joe Biden’s election victory. More than 600 people now face criminal charges stemming from the event.

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Trump was impeached by the Democratic-led House on a charge of inciting the attack on the Capitol in a fiery speech at a rally earlier that day. He was acquitted by the Senate.

Earlier this month, Biden authorized the National Archives, a government agency that holds records from Trump’s time in office, to turn over an initial batch of documents requested by the select committee.

The National Archives has said it will turn over the requested documents to Congress next month, according to Trump’s lawsuit, which seeks an injunction halting that process.

Michael Stern, a former congressional lawyer, said Trump’s strategy may be to use litigation to stall the select committee’s work.

“If he is willing to pay for the lawyers, Trump could delay the production of records for some time,” Stern said.

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The Jan. 6 committee has also issued subpoenas demanding testimony from Trump advisers, including political strategist Steve Bannon.

Bannon has refused to provide testimony until Trump’s assertion of executive privilege has been resolved by a court or through negotiations with the committee.

The committee said last week it would formally ask the U.S. Justice Department to bring criminal charges against Bannon because of his defiance of the subpoena.

The committee has subpoenaed other officials including former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, Trump former chief of staff Mark Meadows, deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino and former Defense Department official Kash Patel.
 

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Capitol police officer pleads not guilty to obstruction charges
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Mark Hosenball
Publishing date:Oct 19, 2021 • 19 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
United States Capitol Police in riot gear stand after a rally at freedom plaza March October 2, 2021 in Washington, DC.
United States Capitol Police in riot gear stand after a rally at freedom plaza March October 2, 2021 in Washington, DC. PHOTO BY TASOS KATOPODIS /Getty Images
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WASHINGTON — A U.S. Capitol Police officer on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to charges that he obstructed a probe into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol complex by supporters of then-President Donald Trump by urging a participant to destroy Facebook posts showing him inside, warning that he could be prosecuted.

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At a hearing before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, Michael Riley, who served on the Capitol Police force for 25 years, formally entered not guilty pleas to two obstruction charges filed against him last week, according to court records.


A status conference was scheduled on the case for Nov. 29. The court docket notes that if the Nov. 29 hearing “is to be converted to a disposition” then “the parties must email the draft plea paperwork” to a court clerk by Nov. 24.

A lawyer for Riley could not immediately be reached for comment.

In a six-page indictment, prosecutors alleged Riley became a Facebook friend with a suspect identified as “Person 1” on Jan. 1 and then direct messaged the individual on Jan. 7.


“Hey (Person 1), im a capitol police officer who agrees with your political stance,” Riley said in the message. “Take down the part about being in the building they are currently investigating and everyone who was in the building is going to be charged.”

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Prosecutors say Riley exchanged “dozens more” direct messages with the riot suspect on Jan. 7, including one in which he wrote “Im glad you got out of there unscathed. We had over 50 officers hurt, some pretty bad.”

Each of two obstruction charges Riley faces carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, though judges often impose sentences below the maximum.

More than 650 people have been charged with taking part in the attack, an unsuccessful attempt to stop Congress from certifying Democratic President Joe Biden’s election victory, which Trump falsely claimed was the result of widespread fraud.
 

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BONOKOSKI: Will it be three more years of Donald Trump 'mulling?'
Author of the article:Mark Bonokoski
Publishing date:Oct 20, 2021 • 10 hours ago • 3 minute read • 22 Comments
Former U.S. president Donald Trump reacts at his first post-presidency campaign rally at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington, Ohio, June 26, 2021.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump reacts at his first post-presidency campaign rally at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington, Ohio, June 26, 2021. PHOTO BY SHANNON STAPLETON /REUTERS
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Donald Trump apparently loves running for president.

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He has been a presidential candidate three times, in 2000, 2016, and 2020. He also “unofficially” campaigned in 2012 and mulled a run in 2004.


No doubt he’s mulling it again if his quest for political donations is any indicator because he is sending out daily requests on multiple occasions.

The beggars pop up in the email basket like whack-a-mole moles.

Although it is against the law for a presidential candidate to accept donations from outside the United States, Trump’s campaign team for some reason sees me as a past major donor — a “patriot,” they say — who should be tapped again.

But more on that later.

According to a recent report by the Washington Post, which is Amazon multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos’ ego trophy, the twice-impeached former president is holding campaign-style rallies in battleground states and had another in mid-October in Iowa.

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He is even setting up focus groups.

In recent weeks, his and his allies’ email campaigns requesting donations have hit 2020-level frequency. Trump is also constantly floating quotes implying that he’s interested in running again, and his advisers are amplifying those quotes to make sure they get aired.

For example, when a Post reporter recently asked Trump if he was going to run again, Trump replied: “We’re not supposed to be talking about it yet, from the standpoint of campaign finance laws, which frankly are ridiculous. But I think you are going to be happy. Let me put it that way.”

So, what is it then? Is it a happy yes, or is it a happy no?

“An informal poll of 13 of Trump’s current and former advisers in recent days indicated that 10 believed he would run, two said it was a public relations ploy, and another said he was not sure,” the Post reports.

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It is impossible to know if Trump does actually plan to make another White House bid, says analysts at MSNBC.

“While his massive yet fragile ego is helping fuel the idea of a triumphant return to the Oval Office, it’s also the reason he might decline to run again should poll numbers suggest he’d get thrashed,” they say.


Although neither Trump nor U.S. President Joe Biden have formally announced a run in 2024, it is unusual for a sitting president not to take a second run at the White House, but there has also been speculation that Vice President Kamala Harris will run instead of her boss.

Despite Trump being 75, Biden will be turning 82 — making him an octogenarian — before 2025’s Inauguration Day.

Speaking at that rally in Iowa, as reported in the British Independent, Trump again hinted at another run in 2024 and falsely alleged the Democrats “used COVID in order to cheat and rig” the 2020 race.

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The so-called “Big Lie” about his 2020 election loss has been a running theme since before Biden assumed office in January.

Republicans, after attacking Trump for the chaos of the insurrection of the Capitol building, have largely folded and have followed his lead since the riot. Betting odds in Britain suggest he would win a Republican nomination contest.

As reported in the Independent, Trump told the right-wing TV network Real America’s Voice that “a bad call from a doctor or something” would be one situation that would stop him from running in 2024.

Meanwhile, I’ve been bombarded with donation requests, the most interesting being that a $62 donation would get me a free American-made welcome mat that reads, “Don’t Blame This Family–We voted for Trump.”

It would be gratifying to wipe your feet on that.

markbonokoski@gmail.com
 

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Former U.S. president Donald Trump launches new social media platform
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Publishing date:Oct 20, 2021 • 2 hours ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
This illustration photo shows a person checking the app store on a smartphone for "Truth Social", with a photo of former US president Donald Trump on a computer screen in the background, in Los Angeles, October 20, 2021.
This illustration photo shows a person checking the app store on a smartphone for "Truth Social", with a photo of former US president Donald Trump on a computer screen in the background, in Los Angeles, October 20, 2021. PHOTO BY CHRIS DELMAS /AFP via Getty Images
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LOS ANGELES — Former U.S. President Donald Trump will launch his own social media app, TRUTH Social, that he said would “stand up to Big Tech” companies such as Twitter and Facebook that have barred him from their platforms.

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TRUTH Social will be created through a new company formed by a merger of the Trump Media and Technology Group and a special acquisition company (SPAC), according to a press release distributed by both organizations.


“We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favourite American President has been silenced. This is unacceptable,” Trump said in a written statement included in the release.

“I am excited to send out my first TRUTH on TRUTH Social very soon. TMTG was founded with a mission to give a voice to all. I’m excited to soon begin sharing my thoughts on TRUTH Social and to fight back against Big Tech,” he said.

The social network, set for a beta launch next month and full rollout in the first quarter of 2022, is the first of three stages in the company’s plans, followed by a subscription video-on-demand service called TMTG+ that will feature entertainment, news and podcasts, according to the news release.

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In a slide deck on its website, the company envisions eventually competing against Amazon.com’s AWS cloud service and Google Cloud.

A Trump representative who declined to be named confirmed the contents of the TMTG news release to Reuters. Trump spokesperson Liz Harrington also tweeted a copy.

“For so long, Big Tech has suppressed conservative voices,” the former president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., told Fox News in an interview. “Tonight my father signed a definitive merger agreement to form what will ultimately be the Trump Media and Technology Group and TRUTH Social – a platform for everyone to express their feelings.”


Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms banned Trump from their services after hundreds of his supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

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That protest came after a speech by Trump in which he falsely claimed that his November election loss was due to widespread fraud, an assertion rejected by multiple courts and state election officials.

The deal will list Trump Media & Technology Group on Nasdaq through a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp, a blank-check acquisition firm led by former investment banker Patrick Orlando.

Trump Media & Technology Group will receive $293 million in cash that Digital World Acquisition Corp had in trust, assuming no shareholder of the acquisition firm chooses to redeem their shares, according to the statement.

Orlando, who has worked at Deutsche Bank and BT Capital Markets, has launched at least four SPACs and has plans for two more, according to his firm’s website and regulatory filings.

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But none of the SPACs have completed a deal yet. A China-based SPAC that Orlando led failed last month to complete a merger with Giga Energy Inc that would have valued the transportation solutions provider at $7.3 billion, because it could not deliver the cash required, according to regulatory filings.

Shareholder redemptions reduce the amount of cash that Digital World Acquisition Corp will have available to give to Trump Media & Technology Group at the closing of the deal.

The companies said in the statement that the completion of the merger is subject to redemptions not exceeding an agreed minimum cash requirement. The statement did not disclose what the requirement is, though that detail is typically contained in a regulatory filing that should follow on Thursday.

The deal values Trump Media & Technology Group at $875 million, including debt, according to the news release.
 

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Donald Trump's new social media deal sparks 400% surge in SPAC's shares
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Medha Singh and Sinéad Carew
Publishing date:Oct 21, 2021 • 14 hours ago • 4 minute read • Join the conversation
U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Fla., Jan. 20, 2021.
U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Fla., Jan. 20, 2021. PHOTO BY CARLOS BARRIA /REUTERS
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to create a social media app after Twitter Inc and Facebook Inc barred him won an endorsement from investors on Thursday who sent shares in a shell company backing the effort soaring.

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Trump Media and Technology Group and Digital World Acquisition Corp , a Special Purpose Acquisition Vehicle (SPAC), announced on Wednesday they would merge to create a new social media app called TRUTH Social. Trump’s company said it plans a beta launch – unveiling a trial version – next month and a full roll-out in the first quarter of 2022.


SPACs such as Digital World use money raised through an initial public offering to take a private company public. The deal announcement lacked the trappings of the detailed business plans Wall Street is accustomed to in SPAC mergers, from naming a leadership team to giving detailed financing earnings and projections.

Even so, shares of Miami-based Digital World were up 340% at $44.20 a share in afternoon trading on Nasdaq after rising more than 400% earlier in the session. At that price, its market capitalization stood at $1.4 billion, up from $321 million on Wednesday.

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It was the most actively traded stock on the exchange, with more than 411 million shares changing hands and drawing chatter on forums such as Reddit, where retail investors have driven so-called meme stocks to values not supported by mainstream financial analysis. On Twitter and Stocktwits, some users cheered the rally with posts displaying rocket ships and GIFs of Trump.

Some investors said the market reaction reflected support for Trump as well as a bet that a platform with him would draw followers.

“Up to this point there hasn’t been a publicly traded vehicle for those that support the former president,” said Jake Dollarhide, co-founder of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Stamford, Connecticut, said not just Trump supporters but also opponents, media and investors would want to get on the platform to keep track of what Trump says.

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“Investors are betting that’s going to drive a lot of people to the platform,” O’Rourke said.

People close to the Republican former president, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said Trump has sought to set up his own social media company since leaving the White House. Trump, contemplating another White House run in 2024, has been frustrated that he does not have a direct and unfiltered connection with his millions of followers after Twitter and Facebook barred him, these people said.


Social media giants suspended Trump’s accounts after his supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 following an incendiary speech he gave repeating false claims that the 2020 election had been stolen from him through widespread voting fraud.

Twitter found that Trump posts violated its “glorification of violence” policy . Facebook found that Trump praised violence in connection with the deadly attack in which rioters sought to block the formal congressional certification of his election loss to President Joe Biden.

In a press release announcing the deal on Wednesday, Trump said, “I’m excited to soon begin sharing my thoughts on TRUTH Social and to fight back against Big Tech.”

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Shares of Facebook were down 0.1%, Twitter shares were down 1.4%.

Trump Media said it would receive $293 million in cash that Digital World Acquisition had in a trust if no shareholder of the acquisition firm chooses to cash in their shares.

The soaring share price on Thursday could increase the likelihood of a deal closing. Investors in the SPAC must eventually choose whether to redeem their shares at the IPO price of $10 per share, which is now much lower than the level at which what many would have bought.

Still, its future is far from certain. Digital World Acquisition, led by former investment banker Patrick Orlando, has launched at least four SPACs and plans to launch two more but none of them have completed a deal yet.

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Orlando did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Attempts to float alternatives to Twitter and Facebook have faltered in the past. Parler, a social media app backed by prominent Republican Party donor Rebekah Mercer and popular with U.S. conservatives, for example, had several tech companies cut ties with it in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot.

“Will the big cloud computing companies allow access to the app or the site and how far can he take it?” asked Phil Blancato, CEO of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management, referring to Trump.

GETTR , a Twitter-style platform started by former Trump adviser Jason Miller, claimed more than 1.5 million users in its first 11 days after being launched in July. Despite endorsements from other Trump allies, including Steve Bannon, Miller was unable to get Trump to join the platform.
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U.S. House holds Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon in criminal contempt
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Patricia Zengerle
Publishing date:Oct 21, 2021 • 14 hours ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon exits the Manhattan Federal Court, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, Aug. 20, 2020.
Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon exits the Manhattan Federal Court, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, Aug. 20, 2020. PHOTO BY ANDREW KELLY /REUTERS / FILES
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WASHINGTON — Longtime Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon could face criminal prosecution for refusing to cooperate with a probe into the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol after the House of Representatives voted Thursday to hold him in contempt of Congress.

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The Democratic-led chamber voted 229 to 202 with nine Republicans joining Democrats to recommend the charges against Bannon, who served as an aide to the former Republican president.


The matter will now be referred to the U.S. Justice Department, where Attorney General Merrick Garland will make the final decision on whether to prosecute.

Bannon has refused to comply with subpoenas from the Jan. 6 Select Committee seeking documents and his testimony, citing Trump’s insistence – disputed by some legal scholars – that his communications are protected by the legal doctrine of executive privilege.

“What sort of precedent would it set for the House of Representatives if we allow a witness to ignore us?” Democrat Bennie Thompson, chairman of the Select Committee, said in debate before the vote.

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The select committee voted unanimously on Tuesday in favour of the charges.


The Democratic-led panel hopes the threat of jail time – contempt of Congress carries a penalty of up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine – encourages cooperation from the 18 other Trump aides and rally organizers who also have been subpoenaed.

Garland has yet to indicate how the department will respond. He told a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday the department would “apply the facts” and make decisions “consistent with the principles of prosecution.”

Most of Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress opposed even creating either an independent commission or a select committee to investigate the events surrounding Jan. 6. That day thousands of Trump supporters descended on the Capitol after he urged them in a fiery speech to protest his defeat by Democrat Joe Biden in a November 2020 election that Trump falsely claims was stolen.

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Only two Republicans – Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger – are on the nine-member select committee.

The contempt of Congress statute, passed in 1857, states that the Justice Department has a duty to bring a House contempt citation before a grand jury.


But the Justice Department historically has said it makes the ultimate decision about whether to prosecute individuals who defy congressional subpoenas. The last successful prosecution for contempt of Congress was in 1974 when a judge found Watergate conspirator G. Gordon Liddy guilty.

Asked about the vote at his weekly news conference on Thursday, Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, said the subpoena for Bannon to testify was “invalid,” making the same executive privilege argument Bannon did.

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Four people died on the day of the assault, and one Capitol police officer died the next day of injuries sustained in defense of the seat of government. Hundreds of police officers were injured and four have since taken their own lives.

The select committee argued that Bannon had made statements suggesting he knew ahead of time about “extreme events” that would take place on Jan. 6, when Congress was scheduled to certify Biden as the winner of the presidential election.

Bannon said on a Jan. 5 podcast that “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow.” The next day, mobs of Trump supporters, many chanting “Stop the Steal” and “Hang Mike Pence,” attacked the Capitol as Vice President Pence and lawmakers met to certify the election.

The assault forced the lawmakers, congressional staff and journalists to flee as crowds rampaged through the building, raiding offices, smashing windows and stealing computers and other equipment.

The vote certification was delayed for several hours, but went ahead – despite votes against it by nearly 147 Republican members of Congress.

Trump has continued to insist falsely that his defeat was the result of fraud. Multiple courts, state election officials and members of Trump’s own administration have rejected that claim.
 

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Trump loses bid to keep lawsuit against Twitter in Florida
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Jan Wolfe
Publishing date:Oct 27, 2021 • 20 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
Former U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during his first post-presidency campaign rally at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington, Ohio, U.S., June 26, 2021.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during his first post-presidency campaign rally at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington, Ohio, U.S., June 26, 2021. PHOTO BY SHANNON STAPLETON /REUTERS
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WASHINGTON — Former U.S. President Donald Trump cannot fight his suspension from Twitter in a Florida federal court, but instead must abide by the social media company’s terms of service and sue in California, following a judge’s ruling.

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U.S. District Judge Robert Scola in Miami said in a written order late on Tuesday that Trump was bound by a “forum selection clause” in Twitter Inc’s terms of service, which mandates that certain lawsuits against the company be heard by a federal judge in the Northern District of California.


Trump lost his social media megaphone this year after the companies said he violated their policies against glorifying violence.

A mob of his supporters launched a deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 after a Trump speech repeating his false claims that his election defeat was the result of widespread fraud, an assertion rejected by multiple courts, state election officials and members of his own administration.

Trump’s lawyers had argued his Twitter account was a “public forum” and “government entity,” and therefore fell under an exception to Twitter’s forum selection clause.

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Scola rejected this argument, saying the forum selection clause was “valid and mandatory, and that “Trump’s former status as the President of the United States does not preclude the application of the forum selection clause.”


John Coale, a lawyer for Trump, said in an interview that he was not surprised by the ruling because forum selection clauses are often held to be binding.

“We thought this was a longshot from the beginning,” Coale said. “We expected there was a decent shot we would end up in California.”

Earlier this month, a different judge transferred a lawsuit Trump brought against Alphabet Inc’s YouTube, which involves related arguments, from Florida to California on similar grounds.

Trump sued YouTube and Twitter in July, alleging they unlawfully silence conservative viewpoints. He also brought a similar case against Facebook Inc.

The lawsuits, filed in federal court in Miami, allege the California-based social media platforms violated the right to freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
 

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Trump seeks to block Jan 6 panel's access to his notes, call logs
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Jason Lange
Publishing date:Oct 30, 2021 • 18 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
A mob of supporters of then-U.S. President Donald Trump climb through a window they broke as they storm the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021.
A mob of supporters of then-U.S. President Donald Trump climb through a window they broke as they storm the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021. PHOTO BY LEAH MILLIS /REUTERS
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WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump is seeking to block Jan. 6 investigators from seeing hundreds of pages of White House documents that include his handwritten notes as well as phone call logs, the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration told a court late on Friday.

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A congressional panel has asked the National Archives – the U.S. government’s official body for preserving government records and making them publicly available – to release nearly 1,600 pages of documents as part of their investigation into the deadly Jan. 6 assault by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol.


Trump, however, has demanded that about 760 pages be withheld, the National Archives said in a filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The former president is arguing that normal rules for the secrecy of White House documents should apply and that the congressional panel, which includes Trump critics from the Democratic and Republican parties, is a “witch hunt.”

But President Joe Biden has waived the secrecy rules, arguing it is in the nation’s interest to understand Trump’s role in the attempt by his supporters to overturn Biden’s victory over Trump in the November 2020 presidential election.

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Trump urged supporters to attend a Jan. 6 rally, telling them it “will be wild.” Then at the rally he urged them to march on the Capitol and “show strength,” making false claims that he lost the election because of fraud. Shortly afterward, supporters violently broke into the U.S. Capitol and tried to stop lawmakers from certifying Biden’s victory. Four people died on the day of the violence, one shot dead by police and the other three of natural causes.

The Democrat-controlled House impeached Trump for inciting insurrection. He was later acquitted in the U.S. Senate.

The records Trump wants kept from investigators include “daily presidential diaries, schedules, appointments showing White House visitors, activity logs call logs,” according to the court filing by the National Archives.

The records could shed light on “what was occurring at the White House immediately before, during and after the January 6 attack,” according to the filing.

Trump is also seeking to block access to documents from binders kept by former Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

A Nov. 4 hearing has been scheduled to consider Trump’s claim of executive privilege.
 

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Donald Trump denies evading questioning in 'Apprentice' contestant's defamation case
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Jonathan Stempel
Publishing date:Nov 03, 2021 • 4 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
Summer Zervos, a former contestant on "The Apprentice" (centre), leaves New York State Supreme Court with attorney Gloria Allred, right, after a hearing on the defamation case against U.S. President Donald Trump in Manhattan, New York City, Dec. 5, 2017.
Summer Zervos, a former contestant on "The Apprentice" (centre), leaves New York State Supreme Court with attorney Gloria Allred, right, after a hearing on the defamation case against U.S. President Donald Trump in Manhattan, New York City, Dec. 5, 2017. PHOTO BY ANDREW KELLY /REUTERS
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NEW YORK — Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday rejected an accusation he was deliberately trying to avoid being questioned under oath in a defamation lawsuit by a former contestant on TV’s “The Apprentice” who claimed he sexually assaulted her.

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In a filing with a New York state court in Manhattan, Trump said a claim he used “delay tactics” to keep his accuser Summer Zervos from deposing him by a court-ordered Dec. 23 deadline “patently absurd, disingenuous, and entirely unfounded.”


Lawyers for Zervos did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Zervos has accused Trump of harming her reputation by claiming she lied by accusing him during his 2016 presidential campaign of subjecting her to unwanted kissing and groping in 2007, two years after she was on his reality television show.

The lawsuit seeks a retraction or apology, plus compensatory and punitive damages. Trump has denied Zervos’ claims and called her case politically motivated.

On Oct. 18, Trump asked for court permission to countersue Zervos for wrongly interfering with his right to speak freely.

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The former president cited a 2020 New York state law, known as an “anti-SLAPP” law, meant to deter lawsuits designed to harass defendants for speaking out on public issues.

Zervos, who sued Trump in January 2017, had said allowing the countersuit would delay Trump’s deposition, adding to delays that have already caused her “significant prejudice.”

But Trump said Zervos knew on Sept. 30 of his planned countersuit, “which she has no legitimate basis to oppose,” and is herself “unnecessarily delaying” the case by objecting.

The case is unresolved in part because Trump argued while in the White House that a sitting president could not be sued.

That became moot after Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and Trump became a private citizen. New York’s highest court dismissed Trump’s latest appeal in March.
 

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History teacher who told students Trump is still president removed from school
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Jonathan Edwards
Publishing date:Nov 09, 2021 • 21 hours ago • 3 minute read • 36 Comments
Former first lady and president of the United States Melania and Donald Trump stand for the national anthem prior to Game Four of the World Series between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves Truist Park on October 30, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Former first lady and president of the United States Melania and Donald Trump stand for the national anthem prior to Game Four of the World Series between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves Truist Park on October 30, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. PHOTO BY ELSA /Getty Images
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Sarah Silikula’s son got into the car after school one day last month, upset and confused by what his teacher had just taught him. Armed with new knowledge, the eighth grader had an announcement and a revisionist history lesson for his mother.

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“I’m never getting vaccinated. I’m never getting any more shots of any kind. Did you know Trump’s still president?” Silikula remembered him saying.


The boy’s middle school history teacher unleashed a rant during an Oct. 18 class at Anacapa Middle School in Ventura, Calif., KCAL first reported. She raved against coronavirus vaccines, the criminal justice system and the 2020 presidential election results. Silikula’s son used his phone to record a seven-minute video of his teacher’s diatribe, which he gave to his mother.

Silikula shared the recording with Ventura Unified School District administrators, and officials there told The Washington Post that they investigated the incident and removed the teacher from the middle school but kept her on as a district employee.

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“The teacher has expressed deep remorse,” a school district spokeswoman told The Post in an email.

The district has not identified the teacher by name and declined to provide information on specific reprimands, citing policy on employee personnel matters.

Superintendent Roger Rice, in a statement to The Post, said the district “does not condone the non-instructionally-related discussion that occurred in the classroom.” He added: “The Ventura Unified School District will work closely with staff to ensure that this does not happen again.”

The incident comes as classrooms and school board meetings are becoming political battlefields. Republican Glenn Youngkin, a political newcomer, upset Democratic contender Terry McAuliffe in last week’s gubernatorial election in Virginia by, in part, decrying state and local mask mandates for schools, saying the decision should be left up to parents.

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Youngkin also inflamed the culture-war mainstay issues of race and transgender identity in schools, urging parents to get more involved in curriculum decisions. He and other conservatives have railed against critical race theory, an intellectual movement examining how policies and laws perpetuate systemic racism. The college-level framework, The Post has reported, is not taught in K-12 classrooms in Virginia or elsewhere in the country.

Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin speaks during his election night party at a hotel in Chantilly, Virginia, U.S., November 3, 2021. Jonathan Ernst /REUTERS
Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin speaks during his election night party at a hotel in Chantilly, Virginia, U.S., November 3, 2021. Jonathan Ernst /REUTERS
The Virginia governor’s race, which has historically served as a preview of issues likely to dominate midterm elections, also centered around the debate over coronavirus vaccine mandates.

The Anacapa Middle School teacher on Oct. 18 delivered several conservative talking points to her students, including on vaccines.

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“If you have a baby in the hospital, they don’t want to give it back if you’re not vaccinated. This is a complete power control threat,” the teacher said in the recording, echoing debunked anti-vaccine talking points that went viral. A New York hospital announced in September that it would stop delivering babies because several employees quit instead of getting vaccinated, which led people to falsely claim online that unvaccinated parents wouldn’t be permitted to bring home their newborns, USA Today reports.

The teacher was also recorded making unproven claims about President Biden’s son, claiming Hunter Biden “was doing deals with China and Ukraine and all these places where he was funneling in money illegally.” Hunter Biden has been under federal investigation, though he maintains his innocence.

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More broadly, the history teacher warned of general government overreach.


“People need to wake up and see the government has way too much power right now,” she told her students.

Silikula told KCAL that teachers are entitled to their political views, but they shouldn’t try to proselytize their students. Her son respects his history teacher and his other instructors, and is now challenging his parents because what they told him contradicts what he heard in the classroom, Silikula said.

“I trusted her to teach him the facts about history and she went off on this rant like a preacher on a pulpit,” Silikula said.

Silikula said Rice, the superintendent, told her that her son’s entire class was transferred to another teacher. The eighth-grader’s mom said she trusted her son’s educator to teach him the facts about history.

“He’s damaged. He’s hurt. He’s scared,” Silikula told KCAL. “He doesn’t trust his parents now. He thinks we lied to him.”
 

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CIVIC DUTY: Howard Stern muses about run against Trump in 2024
Author of the article:Denette Wilford
Publishing date:Nov 10, 2021 • 9 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
Radio talk show host Howard Stern during his show on Sirius Satellite Radio in New York City.
Radio talk show host Howard Stern during his show on Sirius Satellite Radio in New York City. Getty Images
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Howard Stern is considering running for president in 2024, claiming he can “beat” Donald Trump.

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“I think I’m going to run for president,” the SiriusXM radio host said, half-jokingly.


Naturally, he got the support of his co-host, Robin Quivers.

“If Trump decided to run again, you have to run against him,” she said. “That’s what’s going to have to happen. We can’t leave it to the Democrats.”

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Stern acknowledged his lack of qualifications, but he did like his chances with voters.

“Who the f— am I?” Stern asked. “I know I’ll beat his a–.”

Stern added that he told his wife, Beth, that he may seriously consider running if Trump throws his hat in the ring.

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He complained about Trump’s failed efforts to get election officials in Georgia to “find” enough votes to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 win in the previously Republican-strong state.

“I would just sit there at debate and play that f—— clip of him trying to fix the election, over and over again,” Stern explained. “There’s no way I’d lose.”


The one and only time Stern ran for any sort of government office was in 1994 when he tried to win the governor’s job in New York while representing the Libertarian Party. He withdrew his candidacy three months before election day because he did not want to reveal his financial information.
 

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U.S. Capitol rioter gets 41 months in prison, longest sentence imposed
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Jan Wolfe and Mark Hosenball
Publishing date:Nov 10, 2021 • 10 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
Riot police push back a crowd of supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump after they stormed the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., Jan. 6, 2021.
Riot police push back a crowd of supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump after they stormed the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., Jan. 6, 2021. PHOTO BY ROBERTO SCHMIDT /AFP via Getty Images / Files
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WASHINGTON — A former mixed martial artist filmed punching a police officer during the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol received a 41-month prison sentence on Wednesday, the stiffest punishment yet in the almost 700 criminal cases stemming from the siege.

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U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth cited the seriousness of New Jersey gym owner Scott Fairlamb’s conduct when he sentenced him. Fairlamb was captured screaming at officers by their body-worn cameras before shoving one and then punching him in the face and pleaded guilty in August.


“Had you gone to trial, I don’t think there’s any jury that could have acquitted you,” the judge told Fairlamb.

Fairlamb was the first rioter sentenced for violence against police during the attack. Lamberth noted that his sentence will be a benchmark for the more than 120 defendants charged with attacking police during the Capitol assault by thousands of Donald Trump supporters trying to overturn his election defeat.

A Capitol Police officer who had been attacked by protesters died the day after the riot and four police officers who took part in the defence of the Capitol later took their own lives. About 140 police officers were injured.

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Fairlamb’s lawyer had asked Lamberth to “take into consideration the approximate 11 months his client has already served in custody” and not add additional time.


An emotional Fairlamb addressed the judge during the hearing, saying he brought shame upon his family’s name.

“I have nothing but remorse,” Fairlamb said, later adding: “I just hope you show some mercy on me, sir.”

Federal prosecutors had recommended a 44-month sentence.

Justice Department lawyer Leslie Goemaat highlighted Fairlamb’s martial arts training during Wednesday’s hearing, as well as earlier run-ins with the law.

“He was trained to throw a punch and was well aware of the injury he could cause,” Goemaat said.


Goemaat also mentioned a video Fairlamb recorded during the riots in which he said: “What Patriots do? We fuckin’ disarm them and then we storm the fuckin’ Capitol!”

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“The defendant’s own statements on that day suggest that he came prepared for violence,” Goemaat said.

Most of the guilty pleas in Jan. 6 prosecutions have been in cases involving non-violent misdemeanours, but government lawyers are now seeking prison sentences for some defendants facing more serious felony charges.

Prosecutors in a late-night court filing recommended a four-year, three-month sentence for Jacob Chansley, the participant in the Jan. 6 riots nicknamed the “QAnon Shaman.”

Lamberth, who is also handling Chansley’s case, will sentence him on Nov. 17.

Chansley’s attorney, Albert Watkins, said in a Tuesday court filing that Chansley should be released “as soon as possible,” noting that he will have spent more than 10 months in pretrial detention.

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“I can say with confidence that Mr. Chansley is in dire need of mental health treatment,” Watkins said in the filing, adding that further time behind bars “jeopardizes his mental stability.”

Some 210 people have been charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding police officers or employees during the attack, the Justice Department said. Four people have pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement.

The assault on the Capitol followed a fiery speech in which Trump repeated his false claims that his election defeat was the result of widespread fraud. Multiple courts, state election officials and members of Trump’s own administration have rejected those claims as unfounded.
 

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BONOKOSKI: ‘Let’s go Brandon! Let’s go Brandon!’
Author of the article:Mark Bonokoski
Publishing date:Nov 11, 2021 • 13 hours ago • 3 minute read • 14 Comments
This combination of file pictures created on October 22, 2020 shows President Donald Trump and Presidential candidate Joe Biden during the final presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 22, 2020.
This combination of file pictures created on October 22, 2020 shows President Donald Trump and Presidential candidate Joe Biden during the final presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 22, 2020. PHOTO BY BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI,JIM WATSON /AFP via Getty Images
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Over the course of Donald Trump’s last year as president, I rarely took him to task for policy — the exception being his slowness to accept COVID-19 as a gamechanger and his reluctance to fight it.

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I took him to task for being a clown.


Yet the emails accusing me of bashing Trump on all fronts continue to roll over me like boulders.

U.S. President Joe Biden is thus far a failure, although his latest accomplishment — getting the $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed — is major if America hopes to ever come close to economic recovery.

His next hurtle is a $1 trillion social services bill.

But dare not bash Trump. About anything.

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In this file photo, conspiracy theorist QAnon demonstrators protest child trafficking on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles August 22, 2020.
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Steve Flanagan, a regular reader and a member of the Flanagan policing dynasty in Ottawa, says, “I see you still have the lingering effects of TDS. How are you enjoying the cognitively deficient man in the Oval Office now? He, his cackling VP and the rest of the administration are basically ruining America.

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“A sieve of a southern border, the supply chain massacred, food prices rising by the day, crime rampant in big cities and being browbeaten continuously by Beijing.

“Yes, he is a real success.”

Flanagan then adds sarcastically, “One more thing, ‘Let’s Go Brandon.'”

Trump derangement syndrome (TDS), as described, is a pejorative term usually for criticisms of former president Donald Trump that are perceived to be irrational, and have little regard towards Trump’s actual policy positions, or actions undertaken by his administration.

As for “Let’s go Brandon,” more on that later.


The biggest thing during Trump’s presidency, however, was the pandemic. And he botched it.

The way regular reader Jake Chartrand sees me?

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“I see that your mind is still stuck in the liberal left-wing gaslighted way of thinking. You sure had to dig deep to find a book for you to continue to attack Trump. In previous e-mails I have asked you why you have never written an op-ed or article about Biden and his so effective administration that is destroying America.”

“Get off your high horse, stop misleading, misrepresenting and lying in your articles,” says Chartrand. “Do the research and tell the truth for once and as it is said the truth will set you free. You not only drank the leftist and liberal, Democrat Kool-Aid, you drowned in it. Buckle up!”

A few libels in there, for sure.

As for “Let’s Go Brandon,” it started Oct. 2 at a NASCAR race when Brandon Brown, a 28-year-old driver, won his first Xfinity Series and was being interviewed by an NBC Sports reporter.

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As explained by the Associated Press, the crowd behind him was chanting something at first difficult to make out. The reporter suggested they were chanting “Let’s go, Brandon.” But it became increasingly clear they were saying: “F— Joe Biden.”


While “Let’s go Brandon” may seem cryptic and weird to many who were listening at the beginning, the phrase is already growing in right-wing circles, and now the seemingly upbeat sentiment is actually a stand-in for swearing at Joe Biden.

It’s all the rage among Republicans, a not-so-secret handshake that signals they’re in sync with the party’s base.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz posed with a “Let’s Go Brandon” sign at the World Series. Senator Mitch McConnell’s press secretary retweeted a photo of the phrase on a Virginia construction sign. South Carolina Republican Jeff Duncan recently wore a “Let’s Go Brandon” face mask at the Capitol.

The line, therefore, has become conservative code for something far more vulgar: “F— Joe Biden.”

No Trump-bashing there.

markbonokoski@gmail.com
 

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Trump defends chants by rioters on Jan. 6 threatening to hang Pence
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Publishing date:Nov 12, 2021 • 21 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence stand while making remarks about early results from the 2020 U.S. presidential election in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., Nov. 4, 2020.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence stand while making remarks about early results from the 2020 U.S. presidential election in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., Nov. 4, 2020. PHOTO BY CARLOS BARRIA /REUTERS
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WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump defended his supporters’ chants threatening to hang Vice-President Mike Pence as they stormed the U.S. Capitol in a deadly riot on Jan. 6, according to a newly released interview on Friday.

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In excerpts of an interview with an ABC reporter, the former Republican president openly supported the threats to Pence, who went before Congress that day to certify results of the 2020 presidential election in which Democrat Joe Biden defeated Trump.


Pence, who with Trump is among potential candidates for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has said he was proud of his role in certifying the election results.

Asked about the Jan. 6 crowd’s chants of “Hang Mike Pence,” Trump said they “were very angry” and he reiterated his false claim of voter fraud, according to an audio of the interview, conducted in March by ABC’s Jonathan Karl and reported by Axios news outlet.

“It’s common sense that you’re supposed to protect. How can you — if you know a vote is fraudulent, right? — how can you pass on a fraudulent vote to Congress? How can you do that?” Trump said, according to the report.

Asked if he was worried for Pence’s safety, Trump told ABC: “No. I thought he was well-protected, and I had heard that he was in good shape.”

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Representatives for Pence could not be reached for comment on the report.

Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the seat of the U.S. government on Jan. 6 as Pence and members of Congress met to certify Biden’s substantial victory. Four people died during the rioting and three Capitol Police died afterwards, while scores of other officers were injured.

Nearly 700 people have been charged in the riot and Congress is investigating the attack.


Karl interviewed Trump for his book Betrayal that comes out on Nov. 16, in which he examines the last months of the Trump presidency and events after he left the White House in January.

The release of Trump’s comments comes amid increasing concern in the United States over domestic extremism, including threats to local election officials.
 

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Former 'Apprentice' contestant Zervos abruptly ends lawsuit against Donald Trump
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Jonathan Stempel
Publishing date:Nov 12, 2021 • 12 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
Summer Zervos, a former contestant on "The Apprentice" (centre), leaves New York State Supreme Court with attorney Gloria Allred, right, after a hearing on the defamation case against U.S. President Donald Trump in Manhattan, New York City, Dec. 5, 2017.
Summer Zervos, a former contestant on "The Apprentice" (centre), leaves New York State Supreme Court with attorney Gloria Allred, right, after a hearing on the defamation case against U.S. President Donald Trump in Manhattan, New York City, Dec. 5, 2017. PHOTO BY ANDREW KELLY /REUTERS
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NEW YORK — Summer Zervos, a former contestant on “The Apprentice” who accused Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her, on Friday ended her nearly five-year-old defamation lawsuit against the former U.S. president.

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The abrupt decision to discontinue the lawsuit, without an apology or compensation from Trump, spares the former president from being questioned under oath about Zervos’ accusations that he subjected her to unwanted kissing and groping in 2007.


Zervos had sued Trump in January 2017 in a New York state court in Manhattan, saying he harmed her reputation by calling such allegations by women “lies” and retweeting a post calling her claims a “hoax.”

Trump has also denied Zervos’ assault claims, calling them politically motivated. Zervos had appeared on Trump’s reality television show in 2005.

“Ms. Zervos no longer wishes to litigate against the defendant and has secured the right to speak freely about her experience,” her lawyers Beth Wilkinson and Moira Penza said in a joint statement. “Ms. Zervos stands by the allegations in her complaint.”

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Trump, a Republican, had been seeking court permission to countersue Zervos for interfering with his right to speak freely, a right he said was guaranteed by New York law.

Zervos’ lawyers called that effort an attempt to escape a court-ordered Dec. 23 deadline to be deposed.

“Ms. Zervos made the prudent decision to voluntarily drop her case without the exchange of any compensation or attorneys’ fees,” Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba said in an email. “She had no choice but to do so as the facts unearthed in this matter made it abundantly clear that our client did nothing wrong.”


Wilkinson and Penza did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.

The case remained unresolved in part because Trump sought while in the White House to halt a variety of legal proceedings by arguing that a sitting president could not be sued.

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That argument became moot after Democrat Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and Trump became a private citizen. New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, dismissed Trump’s latest appeal in Zervos’ case in March.

Other legal matters delayed while Trump was president included the ongoing probe by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance into Trump’s family company, the Trump Organization.

Trump has denied claims by several women of improper sexual conduct.

One, former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll, is also suing Trump for defamation after he denied having raped her in a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s.

Trump has asked the federal appeals court in Manhattan to let him substitute the U.S. government as the defendant, essentially shielding him from personal liability, because he had spoken about Carroll in his capacity as president.

Oral arguments are scheduled for Dec. 3. The Biden administration has essentially adopted Trump’s position, while describing his statements questioning Carroll’s credibility as “crude and disrespectful.”
 

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Donald Trump reaches $375M deal to sell D.C. hotel: report
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Publishing date:Nov 14, 2021 • 10 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
In this file photo taken Oct. 26, 2016, The Trump International Hotel, Washington is pictured before its grand opening in Washington, D.C.
In this file photo taken Oct. 26, 2016, The Trump International Hotel, Washington is pictured before its grand opening in Washington, D.C. PHOTO BY ZACH GIBSON /AFP via Getty Images / Files
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WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump’s family hotel company has reached a deal to sell the rights to its Washington, D.C., hotel for $375 million, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

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Miami-based investment firm CGI Merchant Group is in contract to acquire the lease, the newspaper said.


The Trump International Hotel is in a historic building a few blocks from the White House that the Trump Organization leases from the U.S. government. The hotel has been a popular gathering spot for Trump supporters and foreign dignitaries.

The newspaper said CGI intends to remove the Trump name and has reached an agreement with Hilton Worldwide Holdings to have the property managed and branded by Hilton’s Waldorf Astoria group.

The Trump organization, CGI Merchant and Hilton did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on Sunday.

Last month, the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform said newly obtained government documents raised “troubling” questions about the hotel.


According to the Democratic-controlled committee, Trump reported that the hotel earned him more than $150 million during his time in office but actually lost more than $70 million.

The committee found that the hotel received more than $3.7 million in payments from foreign governments – equal to more than 7,400 nights at the hotel, raising a potential conflict of interest.

The hotel is in the city’s second-tallest structure , after the Washington Monument. The building previously housed the U.S. Post Office Department Headquarters.
 

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Trump adviser Bannon charged after defying Capitol riot subpoena
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Jan Wolfe and Mark Hosenball
Publishing date:Nov 14, 2021 • 8 hours ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon exits the Manhattan Federal Court, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, Aug. 20, 2020.
Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon exits the Manhattan Federal Court, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, Aug. 20, 2020. PHOTO BY ANDREW KELLY /REUTERS / FILES
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Stephen Bannon, a prominent adviser to former U.S. President Donald Trump, has been criminally charged for defying a subpoena issued by a congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the Justice Department said on Friday.

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Bannon has refused to cooperate with the House of Representatives select committee seeking testimony and documents from him, citing Trump’s insistence – already rejected by one judge – that he has a right to keep the requested material confidential under a legal doctrine called executive privilege.


Bannon, 67, was charged with one count of contempt of Congress for refusing to appear for a deposition and a second count for refusing to produce documents. Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000, the Justice Department said.

Justice Department spokesperson Bill Miller said Bannon is “expected to self-surrender” on Monday in Washington and make his first court appearance in the case that afternoon.

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Trump has sought to stonewall the committee, which is scrutinizing his actions relating to the deadly Capitol riot, and directed his former associates not to cooperate. The charges against Bannon may bolster the committee’s efforts to secure testimony and documents from other Trump associates.

Bannon’s indictment was announced just hours after Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows refused to appear for a deposition before the committee, risking also being found in contempt of Congress.

As a top adviser to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign who later served as White House chief strategist, Bannon helped articulate the “America First” right-wing populism and fierce opposition to immigration that helped define Trump’s presidency.

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Bannon, who has promoted a variety of right-wing causes and candidates in the United States and abroad, continued to offer Trump advice after leaving his White House post in 2017. Bannon is a prominent figure in right-wing media circles and previously headed the Breitbart News website.

“Steve Bannon’s indictment should send a clear message to anyone who thinks they can ignore the Select Committee or try to stonewall our investigation: no one is above the law,” Democrat Bennie Thompson and Republican Liz Cheney, the leaders of the committee, said in a statement.

Bannon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It is the second time in 15 months that Bannon has faced criminal charges. Bannon was charged in August 2020 with defrauding donors to We Build the Wall, a private fund-raising effort to boost Trump’s wall project along the U.S.-Mexican border, and arrested aboard a yacht belonging to a fugitive Chinese billionaire. Trump subsequently issued a pardon to Bannon before that case could go to trial.

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The Democratic-led House voted to hold Bannon in contempt of Congress in October. Most of Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress opposed creating an independent commission or a committee to investigate the events surrounding Jan. 6.

On that day, a mob of Trump supporters rioted at the Capitol in a failed bid to prevent formal congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory. Before the riot, Trump gave a speech to his supporters repeating his false claims that the election was stolen from him and urged them to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell” to “stop the steal.”

The committee has said Bannon made public statements suggesting he knew in advance about “extreme events” that would occur on Jan. 6. Bannon said on a Jan. 5 podcast that “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow.”

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After the House voted to hold Bannon in contempt, it was up to Biden’s Justice Department, headed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, to decide whether to bring charges. Garland in a statement on Friday said his department “adheres to the rule of law, follows the facts and the law and pursues equal justice under the law.”

Trump on Oct. 18 sued the committee and the National Archives, which holds material dating from his presidency, in a bid to keep hundreds of pages of records secret. A judge rejected Trump’s lawsuit on Tuesday, saying the public interest in learning about Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 was paramount. Trump appealed that ruling.

The last successful prosecution for contempt of Congress was in 1974 when a judge found G. Gordon Liddy, a conspirator in the Watergate scandal that drove President Richard Nixon to resign, guilty.
 

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Trump adviser Steve Bannon criticizes Biden after court appearance
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Jan Wolfe and Sarah N. Lynch
Publishing date:Nov 15, 2021 • 7 hours ago • 4 minute read • Join the conversation
Steve Bannon, talk show host and former White House adviser to former U.S. President Donald Trump, arrives at the FBI's Washington field office to turn himself in to federal authorities after being indicted for refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena over the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., Monday, Nov. 15, 2021.
Steve Bannon, talk show host and former White House adviser to former U.S. President Donald Trump, arrives at the FBI's Washington field office to turn himself in to federal authorities after being indicted for refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena over the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., Monday, Nov. 15, 2021. PHOTO BY JIM BOURG /REUTERS
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WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump’s longtime adviser Steve Bannon on Monday sought to portray the criminal charges over his defiance of a congressional inquiry into the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot as politically motivated, lashing out at President Joe Biden and others.

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Bannon, indicted by a federal grand jury on Friday on two counts of contempt of Congress, made his first court appearance, with Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather releasing him on his personal recognizance after a brief hearing. Hours earlier, Bannon turned himself in at an FBI field office in Washington, flanked by black-clad bodyguards.


The conditions set by Meriweather for Bannon’s release did not include an order not to talk about the case publicly. Bannon moments after the hearing addressed a throng of journalists outside the federal courthouse.

“I’m never going to back down. They took on the wrong guy this time,” said Bannon, Trump’s one-time chief strategist and one of more than 30 people close to the Republican former president called to testify to the Democratic-led House of Representatives select committee probing the Jan. 6 attack.

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Bannon took aim at Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“I’m telling you right now, this is going to be the misdemeanor from hell for Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden,” Bannon said.

“We’re going to go on the offence. We’re tired of playing defence,” Bannon said, who claimed without offering evidence that Biden ordered Garland to bring the charges.


Bannon was indicted on one contempt count for refusing to appear for a deposition before the committee and a second count for refusing to produce documents. The House voted on Oct. 21 to hold Bannon in contempt, leaving it up to the Justice Department, headed by Garland, to decide on bringing charges.

Before surrendering to the FBI, Bannon told reporters, “We’re taking down the Biden regime,” though he did not specify what he meant by “taking down.” A demonstrator standing behind him held a sign that read “Coup Plotter.”

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A mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 in a failed attempt to prevent formal congressional certification of his election loss to Biden. The committee is scrutinizing Trump’s actions relating to those events. Bannon is the first to face criminal charges arising from the panel’s inquiry.

Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail along with a fine of up to $100,000, according to the Justice Department. The department on Friday had said Bannon faced a fine of up to $1,000.

Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail along with a monetary fine.

Meriweather imposed several conditions on Bannon including surrendering his U.S. passport. Bannon did not enter a plea, with an arraignment scheduled for Thursday.

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EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE

Trump has sought to stonewall the House committee and directed his associates not to cooperate. In defying his subpoena, Bannon cited Trump’s insistence – already rejected by one judge – that the former president has a right to keep the requested material confidential under a legal doctrine called executive privilege.

Bannon, a prominent figure in right-wing media circles, was an architect of Trump’s 2016 presidential victory and served as White House chief strategist in 2017. The former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker and Navy veteran has promoted right-wing causes and candidates in the United States and abroad.


Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanour punishable by up to one year in jail along with a monetary fine.

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During the hearing, Bannon conferred frequently with his two lawyers, smiling and laughing on occasion in the courtroom. Prompted by a court employee, Bannon raised his hand and swore to abide by the conditions of his pretrial release.

Bannon is one of more than 30 people close to Trump ordered by the House committee to testify about the run-up to Jan. 6, when a mob of the Republican former president’s supporters stormed the Capitol in a failed attempt to prevent formal congressional certification of his election loss to Biden.

Trump has sought to stonewall the Democratic-led committee, which is scrutinizing his actions relating to the riot, and directed his former associates not to cooperate. In defying his subpoena, Bannon cited Trump’s insistence – already rejected by one judge – that he has a right to keep the requested material confidential under a legal doctrine called executive privilege.

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Bannon, a prominent figure in right-wing media circles, was an architect of Trump’s 2016 presidential victory and served as White House chief strategist in 2017. The former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker and Navy veteran has promoted right-wing causes and candidates in the United States and abroad.


Bannon separately was charged last year with defrauding donors to a private fund-raising effort to boost Trump’s pledge to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border. Trump pardoned Bannon before the case could go to trial.

The House committee has said Bannon made public statements suggesting he knew in advance about “extreme events” that would occur on Jan. 6. Bannon said on a Jan. 5 podcast that “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow.”

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Shortly before the riot, Trump gave a speech to supporters near the White House repeating his false claims that the election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud and urging them to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell” to “stop the steal.”

House investigators hope the Bannon charges will motivate other witnesses including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who on Friday refused to appear for a deposition, to testify.

Bannon’s attorney David Schoen after Monday’s hearing emphasized that his client’s actions toward his subpoena were guided by Trump’s invocation of executive privilege.

“You can’t put the genie back in the bottle,” Schoen said. “Mr. Bannon acted as his lawyers counseled him to do by not appearing and by not turning over documents in this case.”