Donald Trump Announces 2016 White House Bid

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
39,563
3,674
113
Trump's press secretary Karoline Leavitt's 'criminal illegal alien' relative detained by ICE
She was taken into custody in Massachusetts after allegedly overstaying her tourist visa — which expired in June 1999.

Author of the article:Denette Wilford
Published Nov 26, 2025 • 2 minute read

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, July 17, 2025, in Washington.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, July 17, 2025, in Washington.
A family member of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.


Bruna Caroline Ferreira, the mother of Leavitt’s nephew, has been described as “a criminal illegal alien from Brazil.”


She was taken into custody in Revere, Mass., after allegedly overstaying her tourist visa — which expired in June 1999, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told NBC News.

Where is she now?
Ferreira was previously arrested on suspicion of battery, the spokesperson added, though they did not specify how the case was resolved.

They noted that under President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, “all individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation.”

Ferreira is currently being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center as she awaits proceedings to have her removed, the spokesperson said.


Leavitt’s nephew has lived full time in New Hampshire with his father and stepmother since he was born and has never lived with his mother, they added.

Bruna Caroline Ferreira and son
Bruna Caroline Ferreira and son, who she shares with Michael Leavitt, brother of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. (GoFundMe) GoFundMe
But Michael Leavitt confirmed to WMUR that Ferreira and their son have maintained a relationship over the years, though he acknowledged that the boy has not been in contact with his mom since she was detained by ICE a few weeks ago.

“The only concern has always been the safety, well-being, and privacy of my son,” the dad told the outlet.

Meanwhile, Karoline Leavitt had no comment on Ferreira’s arrest, but a source said the women have not spoken in many years.

‘No criminal record whatsoever’
Ferreira’s lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, said his client came to the United States with her family as a child, has “maintained her legal status” under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and is in the process of getting her green card, WMUR reported.


Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to the Associated Press that DACA recipients can lose status “for a number of reasons, including if they’ve committed a crime.”

However, Pomerleau insisted that Ferreira is a good mom with “no criminal record whatsoever.”

He added: “I’m just trying to fight to get her out of jail. She should not be sitting in a jail hours away from her family and from her child’s life. She’s a great mom, and from what I heard, I think he’s been a pretty good dad.”


A GoFundMe page has been created by her sister Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues for legal fees and expenses.

“Bruna was brought to the United States by our parents in December of 1998, when she was just a child, entering on a visa,” the message reads.

“Since then, she has done everything in her power to build a stable, honest life here. She has maintained her legal status through DACA, followed every requirement, and has always strived to do the right thing.”
 

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
39,563
3,674
113
Trump calls reporter 'ugly' over her article about his health
Trump called New York Times reporter Katie Rogers "ugly, both inside and out"

Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Published Nov 26, 2025 • Last updated 19 hours ago • 1 minute read

"Ugly, both inside and out." That's how U.S. President Donald Trump described New York Times reporter Katie Rogers. Find out why.
A US appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a defamation lawsuit President Donald Trump filed against CNN.
OTTAWA — “Ugly, both inside and out.”


That’s how U.S. President Donald Trump described New York Times reporter Katie Rogers, in response to an article she co-wrote on how the 79-year-old president’s age is impacting his ability to travel.


Trump takes to Truth Social
“The writer of the story, Katie Rogers, who is assigned to write only bad things about me, is a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out,” Trump wrote in the lengthy post on his Truth Social microblogging site, describing the Times as a “failing” newspaper and describing the margin by which he won last year’s election.

“There will be a day when I run low on Energy, it happens to everyone, but with a PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST (“That was aced”) JUST RECENTLY TAKEN, it certainly is not now!”


The Times story reported that Trump’s schedule has seen a 39% decrease compared to his first year in office in 2017, pointing out that most of his trips in this term are international over domestic trips.


Trump is the oldest person ever elected to the U.S. Presidency — former President Joe Biden, currently 83 years old, was one year younger than Trump when he was elected in 2021.



“Quiet, piggy”
While Trump still maintains a busy schedule — the Times article begins by describing Trump handing out Halloween candy at the White House, just hours after arriving home from a week-long trip to Japan and South Korea — his public events schedule is leaner than in the past, usually falling between noon and 5 p.m.

Trump’s comments come a little over a week after the president admonished a Bloomberg News reporter for asking about the Geffrey Epstein files, telling her “quiet, piggy.”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume
 

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
39,563
3,674
113
Alina Habba, disqualified as New Jersey's top prosecutor
Judges panel backs lower-court ruling that found White House violated law to install Alina Habba without Senate support

Author of the article:Jordan Ercit
Published Dec 01, 2025 • 3 minute read

Alina Habba speaks after being sworn in as interim U.S. Attorney General for New Jersey, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on March 28, 2025.
Alina Habba speaks after being sworn in as interim U.S. Attorney General for New Jersey, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on March 28, 2025.
The Donald Trump administration was tripped up by another legal hurdle Monday when the U.S. president’s former personal lawyer was again disqualified from serving as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor.


A panel of 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges backed a lower-court ruling that found the White House violated the law by using of a series of manoeuvres to install Alina Habba in the position without Senate support.


“Under the government’s delegation theory, Habba may avoid the gauntlet of presidential appointment and Senate confirmation and serve as the de facto U.S. attorney indefinitely,” the three-judge panel wrote, via CNN. “This view is so broad that it bypasses the constitutional (appointment and Senate confirmation) process entirely.”

The court’s ruling dealt another legal blow to the Trump White House in its bid to have Habba continue to serve as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, which The Associated Press described as a “powerful post” tasked with enforcing federal and criminal law.


Ripple effect in other key jurisdictions?
The ruling could also have a ripple effect in key jurisdictions where the Trump administration doesn’t have Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys, CNN reported, like the Los Angeles and Las Vegas areas.

Trump named Habba the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey earlier this year, but she resigned when it was clear district court judges were not going to name her U.S. attorney as the limit for her interim appointment was approaching, CNN reported.

Attorney General Pam Bondi then named Habba a special attorney before designating her the title of first assistant U.S. attorney, CNN reported. She was then delegated the authority of U.S. attorney.

Habba, whose interim appointment expired without the aforementioned Senate confirmation, said in a post on X after an Oct. 20 court hearing that she was fighting “on behalf of 26 U.S. attorney candidates who have been denied the opportunity for a Senate hearing.



“The president appoints individuals to carry out the mission of this administration and that mandate should be respected,” she said.

George W. Bush, Barack Obama appointees on judges panel
The White House did not immediately comment on the ruling, the AP reported, instead referring questions to the Justice Department. The AP also left messages with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey, Habba’s personal assistant and the Justice Department.

CNN also had not received a comment from the Justice Department.

The judges panel included George W. Bush appointees D. Brooks Smith and D. Michael Fisher as well as Barack Obama appointee Luis Felipe Restrepo.


Ruling comes after similar issues in Comey, James cases
The appellee’s lawyers, however, said the decision shows Habba is serving in her post unlawfully.


“We will continue to challenge President Trump’s unlawful appointments of purported U.S. attorneys wherever appropriate,” Abbe Lowell, Gerry Krovatin and Norm Eisen said in a statement to AP.

The ruling came on the heels of a federal judge concluding the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed in dismissing criminal charges against former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Halligan was also a member of Trump’s personal legal team.

The Justice Department has said that it plans to appeal the rulings in the Comey-James case.
 

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
39,563
3,674
113
Canadian firm Roshel secures $10M armoured truck contract with ICE
Contract represents fifth such deal between the Canadian defence contractor and U.S. government since 2024

Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Published Dec 03, 2025 • Last updated 15 hours ago • 2 minute read

Roshel
Canadian-made Roshel Senator armoured-personnel vehicles, part of Canada’s military aid to the country. Roshel
OTTAWA — A Canadian defence contractor has secured a multimillion-dollar contract to provide 20 armoured trucks to the U.S. federal government — the fifth such contract awarded to the firm since early 2024.


The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has entered into a $9.7-million sole-source contract with Brampton-based Roshel to provide 20 Senator emergency response tactical vehicles to aid their ongoing operation to rid the United States of illegal immigrants.


According to U.S. federal procurement documents, the trucks will be equipped to level two of NATO’s STANAG 4569 armoured vehicle standards — making them capable of withstanding gunfire from the 7.62×39mm cartridge (used in AK-47 rifles) at 30 metres, 155mm artillery rounds from 80 metres, and resistant to 6 kilos of explosives detonated underneath the vehicle.

The contract was awarded Nov. 28, and comes as relations between Canada and the United States remain strained while the Donald Trump White House transitions the country’s trade policy to a decidedly America-first philosophy.


What other vehicles Roshel provided
Federal procurement records indicate this is the fifth contract with Roshel to provide armoured vehicles to the U.S. government since 2024.

In August 2024, Roshel was chosen to fulfil a US$6.2-million contract to supply 20 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) — an agency of the U.S. state department tasked with fighting crime and illicit drug smuggling in foreign countries.

Roshel would be chosen two more times to provide MRAP (mine resistant, ambush-protected) vehicles to INL, a US$82.9-million contract to supply 200 vehicles, and again in March for a US$39-million contract to provide 110 more.


In September, a US$8.2-million contract was awarded to provide 25 Senator APCs for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security.

2023 Ukraine deal sparked controversy
Roshel Defence Solutions was founded in 2016, developing its venerable Senator armoured truck two years later.

In 2023, Roshel was the subject of a Canadian government investigation into alleged wrongdoing connected to a sole-source, $92-million contract to provide 200 APCs to Ukraine.

The allegations stem from a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed by a former Roshel executive alleging “illegal acts” and violations of anti-corruption laws and accusing the company of bribing Ukrainian officials to “influence decisions made by the Ukrainian government and/or military” to secure the lucrative contract.

Roshel countersued the former executive for $11 million, claiming defamation and breach of contract.

The allegations were enough for the Canadian Commercial Corporation — the federal crown agency overseeing the deal — to ask Roshel to cease production for a month while the allegations were investigated.

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume
 

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
39,563
3,674
113
FBI makes arrest in investigation into pipe bombs placed in D.C. on eve of Jan. 6 riot
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Eric Tucker And Alanna Durkin Richer
Published Dec 04, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read

Images from an FBI poster seeking a suspect who allegedly placed pipe bombs in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
Images from an FBI poster seeking a suspect who allegedly placed pipe bombs in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI made an arrest on Thursday in its nearly 5-year-old investigation into pipe bombs placed outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national parties in Washington on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.


The arrest marks the first time investigators have settled on a suspect in an act that had long vexed law enforcement, spawned a multitude of conspiracy theories and remained an enduring mystery in the shadow of the dark chapter of American history that is the violent Capitol siege.


The suspect in custody has been identified as Brian Cole, according to three people familiar with the matter. Two of the people said he lived in Woodbridge, Virginia, a Washington suburb.

No other details were immediately available, including the charges Cole might face. The people who described the arrest weren’t authorized to publicly discuss a case that hasn’t yet been made public and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Calls to relatives of Cole listed in public records were not immediately returned on Thursday. Hours after Cole was taken into custody, unmarked law enforcement vehicles lined the cul-de-sac where Cole’s home is while FBI agents helped shoo away onlookers. Authorities were seen entering the house and examining the trunk of a car nearby.


FBI says the bombs could have killed people
The pipe bombs were placed on the evening of Jan. 5, 2021, near the offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees. Nobody was hurt before the bombs were rendered safe, but the FBI has said both devices could have been lethal.

In the years since, investigators have sought the public’s help in identifying a shadowy subject seen on surveillance camera even as they struggled to determine answers to basic questions, including the person’s gender and motive and whether the act had a clear connection to the riot at the Capitol a day later when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the building in a bid to halt the certification of the Republican’s 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.


Seeking a breakthrough, the FBI last January publicized additional information about the investigation, including an estimate that the suspect was about 5 feet, 7 inches tall, as well as previously unreleased video of the suspect placing one of the bombs.

The bureau had for years struggled to pinpoint a suspect despite hundreds of tips, a review of tens of thousands of video files and a significant number of interviews.

Lack of evidence spawns conspiracy theories
In the absence of harder evidence, Republican lawmakers and right-wing media outlets promoted conspiracy theories about the pipe bombs. House Republicans also criticized security lapses, questioning how law enforcement failed to detect the bombs for 17 hours. Dan Bongino, the current FBI deputy director, floated the possibility last year before being tapped for his job that the act was an “inside job” and involved a “massive cover-up.”


The FBI’s top two leaders, Bongino and Director Kash Patel, sought to breathe new life into the investigation despite having openly disparaged the bureau’s broader approach to the Jan. 6 siege and despite Trump’s pardons on his first day back in office of the rioters who stormed the Capitol, including those who violently attacked police with poles and other makeshift weapons.

In a long Nov. 13 post on X, Bongino wrote that the FBI had brought in new personnel to examine the case and “dramatically increased investigative resources” along with the public reward for information “to utilize crowd-sourcing leads.” He said in the same post, addressed to Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., that “a week of near 24-hour work on RECENT open source leads in the case has yet to produce a breakthrough.”


Investigators hunt for clues
Public attention over the years had centred in part on surveillance video taken the night before the riot showing the suspect spending close to an hour moving through the surrounding blocks, pausing on a park bench, cutting through an alley and stopping again as a dog walker passed.

The person wore a light sweatshirt, dark pants and sneakers, with a dark backpack slung over one shoulder. Investigators have long said the gait suggested the person was a man, but a surgical mask and hood rendered the face all but impossible to see.

Agents paired their video review with a broad sweep of digital records. They gathered cell tower data showing which phones were active in the neighbourhood at the time and issued subpoenas to several tech companies, including Google, for location information.


Investigators also analyzed credit card transactions from hobby shops and major retailers to identify customers who had purchased components resembling those used in the two explosive devices — each roughly 1 foot (0.3 meters) long and packed with gunpowder and metal, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation.

Another avenue of the investigation centred on the suspect’s shoes, believed to be Nike Air Max Speed Turfs. After learning from Nike that thousands of pairs had been distributed through more than two dozen retailers, agents filed subpoenas for credit card records from Foot Locker and other chains as they worked to narrow down potential buyers. Still, for years, they had no solid breakthroughs.
 

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
39,563
3,674
113
Suspect in D.C. pipe bomb case said to have confessed in interviews with investigators
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer And Michael Kunzelman
Published Dec 05, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 1 minute read

This image shows part of a "Seeking Information" notice released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding pipe bombs planted outside offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees in Washington on Jan. 5, 2021, on the eve of the attack on the Capitol.
This image shows part of a "Seeking Information" notice released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding pipe bombs planted outside offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees in Washington on Jan. 5, 2021, on the eve of the attack on the Capitol.
WASHINGTON — The man accused of planting a pair of pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national parties in Washington on the eve of the U.S. Capitol attack confessed to the act in interviews with investigators, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.


Brian Cole Jr. also indicated that he believed the 2020 election was stolen and expressed views supportive of President Donald Trump, said the people, who were not authorized to discuss by name an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.


The details add to a still-emerging portrait of the 30-year-old suspect from Woodbridge, Virginia, and it was not immediately clear what other information or perspectives he may have shared while cooperating with law enforcement following his arrest on Thursday.

Federal authorities have not publicly disclosed any information about a possible motive or whether there is any connection to the attack on the Capitol the following day by Trump supporters.

A spokesperson for the federal public defender’s office, which will be representing Cole at a Friday court appearance in Washington, declined to comment. Calls to relatives of Cole listed in public records were not immediately returned Thursday.


Cole faces explosives charges in connection with the Jan. 5, 2021 placement of the pipe bombs near the offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees. Nobody was hurt before the bombs were rendered safe, but the FBI has said both devices could have been lethal.

An FBI affidavit made public Thursday indicated that investigators zeroed in on Cole through analysis of credit card charges related to the purchase of pipe bomb components, cellphone towers and a license plate reader.

The arrest marks the first time investigators have publicly identified a suspect in an act that has been an enduring mystery for nearly five years in the shadow of the violent Capitol attack.
 

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
39,563
3,674
113
Donald Trump's ex-lawyer quits as top prosecutor, blames 'politicized left'
Alina Habba resigned as interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey after judges panel ruled she was serving unlawfully

Author of the article:Jordan Ercit
Published Dec 08, 2025 • 2 minute read

Alina Habba speaks to reporters outside the White House on March 17, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Alina Habba, counsellor to U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks to reporters outside the White House on March 17, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Habba announced on X on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, that she was stepping down as acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer has stepped down from her post as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey after an appeals court judges panel ruled last week that she was serving unlawfully.

Alina Habba resigned on Monday, while lashing out at the “politicized left” and judges in her state “taking advantage of a flawed blue slip tradition” — a reference to the U.S. attorney nomination process.


Nonetheless, Habba said she was resigning “to protect the stability and integrity” of the office.

“But do not mistake compliance for surrender,” she said, adding she awaits further review of the court hearing while serving as a senior adviser to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. “This decision will not weaken the Justice Department and it will not weaken me.”



Trump calls decision ‘sad situation’
Habba’s duties as the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey will be distributed between three Justice Department lawyers, The Associated Press reported.

Asked about Habba’s resignation on Monday, Trump lashed out at the Senate’s tradition of refusing to act on nominees opposed by senators from the state in question.

“It’s a horrible thing. It makes it impossible to appoint a judge or a U.S. attorney,” Trump said at the White House, via the Associated Press. “I guess I just have to keep appointing people for three months and then just appoint another one, another one. It’s a very sad situation. We’re losing a lot of great people.”

Habba’s resignation came after a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges panel backed a lower-court ruling that found the White House violated the law by using of a series of manoeuvres to install Habba without Senate support.


Habba had been appointed to ‘powerful post’
The judges panel included George W. Bush appointees D. Brooks Smith and D. Michael Fisher as well as Barack Obama appointee Luis Felipe Restrepo.

The ruling kept Habba from a “powerful post” tasked with enforcing federal and criminal law in the state. It could also have a ripple effect in key jurisdictions where the Trump administration doesn’t have Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys, CNN reported, like the Los Angeles and Las Vegas areas.

Trump named Habba the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey earlier this year, but she resigned when it was clear district court judges were not going to name her U.S. attorney as the limit for her interim appointment was approaching, CNN reported.


Bondi then named Habba a special attorney before designating her the title of first assistant U.S. attorney, CNN reported. She was then delegated the authority of U.S. attorney.

Another interim U.S. attorney ruled invalid
Habba’s interim appointment expired without Senate confirmation.

The ruling came on the heels of a federal judge concluding the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, was invalid as she dismissed criminal charges against former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Halligan was also a member of Trump’s personal legal team.

The Justice Department planned to appeal the rulings in the Comey-James case as well.
G7qvLEYXQAAtpB7[1].jpg