Rejecting former President Donald Trump's claims of executive privilege, a federal judge has ordered Mark Meadows and other top aides from Trump's administration to testify before a federal grand jury investigating the lead up to the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, ABC News reported.
Trump's lawyers argued against the subpoenas, saying that executive privilege protected Trump's right to keep his communications during his time as president private.
Judge Beryl Howell rejected Trump's claim of executive privilege for several former aides including Mark Meadows, John Ratcliffe, Robert O'Brien, Stephen Miller, and Dan Scavino. The order also included Nick Luna, John McEntee, and Ken Cuccinelli.
As ABC News points out, Trump is likely to appeal the ruling.
IN OTHER NEWS: Trump's threats against Alvin Bragg will blow up in his face when he goes to trial: John Dean
"The DOJ is continuously stepping far outside the standard norms in attempting to destroy the long accepted, long held, Constitutionally based standards of attorney-client privilege and executive privilege," a Trump spokesperson said in a statement. "There is no factual or legal basis or substance to any case against President Trump. The deranged Democrats and their comrades in the mainstream media are corrupting the legal process and weaponizing the justice system in order to manipulate public opinion, because they are clearly losing the political battle."
Special counsel Jack Smith is investigating Trump for concealing more than 100 classified documents in his Florida home.
A man who was convicted for threatening a follow-up attack after the Capitol Hill insurrection, and suggested bringing enough people and weapons to overcome any "standing army or police agency," is now suing right-wing social network Parler for banning him for those very threats.
Troy Smocks is suing Parler, which was recently shut down after it was sold, leaving former employees to plot their own new platform, for $370 million, according to a Gizmodo report.
"Troy Smocks was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison and banned from the now-dormant social network Parler after he made violent threats on the app in the wake of the January 6th riots. Now Smocks is suing Parler for $370 million, accusing the company of violating a controversial Texas law which bars social media platforms from censoring users for their political beliefs," reported Gizmodo. "Smocks’ Parler posts advocated for the insurrection on January 6th, 2021, and he rallied for more violence the next day. 'Over the next 24 hours, I would say lets get our personal affairs in order. Prepare our weapons, and then go get’em,' Smocks wrote on Parler from a Washington, DC hotel on January 7th. 'Lets hunt these cowards down like the Traitors that each of them are. This includes RINOS, Dems, and Tech Execs. We now have the green light,' he said."
Smocks would later plead guilty to making interstate threats. Yet his lawsuit says he was banned from Paler for supporting former president Trump.
ALSO IN THE NEWS: Trump and Ted Cruz mount last-minute appeals against Texas AG Paxton's GOP-led impeachment
"But the lawsuit accuses Parler of banning Smocks 'solely because of Plaintiff’s selection and vote casting for a political candidate, then United States President Donald J. Trump.' The complaint makes no mention of the 59-year old’s criminal calls for violence," according to the report. "The lawsuit, spotted in the newsletter Court Watch, names as defendants Parler, its former CEO John Matze, and Rebekah Mercer, the billionaire right-wing philanthropist who secretly funded the company in its early days."
For his part, Matze told Gizmodo he thinks Smocks "is having trouble accepting his own life choices and is looking to put the blame on others."
Embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has received 11th hour support from Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz as he faces 20 counts of impeachment in the Texas House.
Both Trump and Cruz defended the long-indicted Paxton by pointing to his recent reelection and attacking his attackers. Both cited his opposition to Biden and MAGA credentials without addressing any of the allegations against him.
Trump posted this on Truth Social:
“The RINO Speaker of the House of Texas, Dade Phelan, who is barely a Republican at all and failed the test on voter integrity, wants to impeach one of the most hard working and effective Attorney Generals in the United States, Ken Paxton, who just won re-election with a large number of American Patriots strongly voting for him. You would think that any issue would have been fully adjudicated by the voters of Texas, especially when that vote was so conclusive.”
ALSO IN THE NEWS: 'A little late in the game': Ivanka Trump's distancing from family won't solve her legal problems
About an hour earlier, Cruz threw down for Paxton on Twitter as a victim of the Republican-controlled “swamp in Austin.”
“For the last nine years, Ken has been the strongest conservative AG in the country. Bar none. No attorney general has battled the abuses of the Biden admin more ferociously—and more effectively—than has Paxton. That’s why the swamp in Austin wants him out. The special interests don’t want a steadfast conservative AG. Virtually all of the information in the articles was public BEFORE Election Day, and the voters chose to re-elect Ken Paxton by a large margin.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has remained conspicuously silent on the matter.According to a legal analyst and a crisis management consultant, Ivanka Trump's moves away from her family, including her indicted former president father, is part of a planned effort to rebrand herself -- but it may not be of any help as she faces a criminal investigation of the Trump Organization.
As Insider's Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert wrote, "She hasn't changed her name, but Ivanka Trump's image has undergone a major makeover in recent years, as she has slowly separated herself from her father's brand. But, despite the rebirth, Donald Trump's elder daughter remains deeply entwined in his businesses — and legal troubles."
In an interview, attorney and legal analyst Andrew Lieb noted the former White House adviser's move to retain separate counsel from her brothers Eric and Donald Trump Jr., saying it made sense, but her efforts to not be associated with the scrutiny her family is under comes too late.
"It's a little late in the game for her to be rebranding, although it makes a lot of sense from a legal perspective. Having all of these people — when it comes to Trump, Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka — with the same lawyer, there could end up being conflict of interest issues," he explained before quipping, "I think there's probably something going on here where there's infighting because I find that families all love each other until they're all liable for $250 million."
ALSO IN THE NEWS: Manhattan DA's discovery list cites book accusing Trump of fathering another child
According to a crisis communications expert, Ivanka was "not part of the [Donald Trump] presidential announcement, so there's definitely a significant difference between them, but I think the reality is you have the same name, so there's going to be an association."
They added, "Right now? Most people are not going to care what she does, as long as her father is a viable candidate for the presidency, there is a significant portion of the population that will not have any interest in the reintroduction of Ivanka Trump into the general conversation."
Attorney Lieb added, "My gut feeling is she's a Kushner. And she's not 100% with both feet in the Trump orbit. Jared has his own world and his own orbit — and we all know about his father's own issues, but it's a lot more stable brand, a lot less visible brand. They've got a lot going on over in the Kushner clan, and she has her kids and her family. That's a different world."
You can read more here.
Copyright © 2023 Raw Story Media, Inc. PO Box 21050, Washington, D.C. 20009 | Masthead | Privacy Policy | Manage Preferences
For corrections contact corrections@rawstory.com, for support contact support@rawstory.com.
