SmartNews

Bondi slammed by ex-DOJ official over 'anything-for-Trump playbook' hours before hearing

Hours before Attorney General Pam Bondi is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, a former high-ranking Department of Justice official accused her of implementing a “Trump-first approach” to running the DOJ.

In a column for MSNBC, Anthony Coley, who previously headed the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs, accused the former Florida attorney general, who has long-time ties to the president, of implementing a "no-holds-barred, anything-for-Trump playbook has left the Justice Department in chaos.”

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'No reason to be good': Trump reveals anxiety as he muses on afterlife

President Donald Trump mused about his eternal fate again during a news conference at the White House.

The 79-year-old president was asked about a new “America Prays” initiative by the White House that will mark next year's semiquincentennial by “inviting America’s great religious communities to pray for our nation and for our people."

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'Be careful': Victims' lawyer warns clients that Epstein list puts them in danger

When a group of Jeffrey Epstein survivors spoke out last month on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, a speech by one of them seemed to grab the headlines with her announcement that they could compile their own list of the late sex offender's clients if the government would not release their names.

Lisa Phillips, who says she endured years of abuse by Epstein and others in his sex trafficking network, ended her brief remarks Sept. 3 with an announcement that capped off a dramatic afternoon, as Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) pushed for the release of the investigation records, reported CNN.

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Trump increasingly angry as judges he hired hit him with 'stark rejections': report

Donald Trump is growing increasingly frustrated that some of the political initiatives of his second term are running into legal roadblocks — particularly as some of his judicial appointees are the ones running interference.

According to a report from Politico’s Kyle Cheney, Trump’s selections to the Supreme Court, Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, have been reliably siding with him on a series of short-term wins via the so-called “shadow docket,” but he continues to suffer setbacks from district judges he nominated to the bench — including one he put in place recently.

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Leaked memo shows Trump plans to stiff 750k shutdown workers

A leaked White House draft memo suggests that the Trump administration is actively considering stiffing as many as 750,000 federal workers and denying them compensation while furloughed amid the ongoing government shutdown, according to an Axios report published Tuesday.

As many as 750,000 federal workers are projected to be furloughed for every day of the shutdown – now in its seventh day – according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

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GOP busted using South American riot pics to justify Oregon troops: 'We're bad memers'

The Oregon Republican Party is facing backlash after it shared a social media post about a planned military deployment in Portland using a fabricated image composed of photographs from South America.

The party's official accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and X claimed, "President Trump on Sunday deployed 300 California National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon after a judge ruled that the Oregon National Guard could not be deployed to keep federal facilities and personnel in Portland safe."

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'It's like, crazy!' Trump attacks Super Bowl promoter amid MAGA's Bad Bunny meltdown

President Donald Trump launched a scathing critique of the NFL's selection of Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny as the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show headliner, sparking renewed tensions between the artist and the former president.

In a Newsmax interview Monday, Trump expressed his bewilderment, declaring, "I don't know who he is, I don't know why they're doing it — it's, like, crazy!" He dismissed the selection as "absolutely ridiculous," suggesting the NFL was influenced by "some promoter they hired to pick up entertainment."

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'He'll implode': Ex-aide predicts presumed MAGA heir is headed to the 'Trump wood chipper'

A former Trump world insider is predicting during a podcast interview that Vice President JD Vance may not ascend to the MAGA throne at all, as some political observers have presumed.

Anthony Scaramucci, one of Trump's communications directors during his first administration, joined The Daily Beast's Joana Coles on a new episode of "The Daily Beast Podcast" to discuss who will inherit the MAGA movement from Trump when he leaves politics.

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MAGA turns on Trump's loyal attorney for holding up a 'Maxwell-like' deal: report

MAGA appears to be turning on one of President Donald Trump's most loyal attorneys, which could spell trouble for the embattled official, according to a new report.

Will Sommer of The Bulwark reported on Monday that MAGA appears to be turning on Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was Trump's criminal defense attorney during his New York fraud trial. MAGA loyalists allege that Blanche is holding up a "Maxwell-like deal" for Tina Peters, a Trump ally who is serving a prison sentence for allowing a Trump-aligned conspiracy theorist to steal voter data from Colorado.

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'Get to the real deal': Analysts rip Stephen Miller's 'dark' excuses for troop deployment

Tim Miller and Sam Stein of The Bulwark ripped the recent excuses one of President Donald Trump's top advisors offered in defense of the administration's efforts to deploy federal troops to cities nationwide.

Stein and Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller, traded barbs on social media over the weekend over the administration's efforts to deploy troops. Miller called Stein "repugnant" for supporting "violent extremists" attempting to "nullify the 2024 election."

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'That's pure insurrection': Trump makes startling claim to MAGA TV host

President Donald Trump uncorked a startling remark Monday night, asserting that Portland, Oregon, is committing an "insurrection" as his administration deploys military troops in a controversial attempt to curb crime among American citizens.

The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the president to send the U.S. military or federalize National Guard units to suppress insurrection, rebellion, or obstruction of federal law enforcement if local authorities can't or won't maintain order.

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'He could collapse the entire system!' Bernie Sanders issues grim Trump warning on CNN

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) issued a grim warning about America's health care system during an interview with CNN's Kaitlan Collins on Monday.

"We have a broken health care system; everybody knows that," Sanders said. "And Trump is not wrong when he says the system is not working very well, but he is making it far worse. And honestly, as the former chair of the health committee, I worry very, very much that he could literally collapse the entire system."

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ESPN commentator faces friction with network while eyeing GOP Senate run: report

ESPN college football commentator Paul Finebaum is eyeing a run for Senate in Alabama as a Republican — and it's causing tension between himself and his network, The Washington Post reported on Monday.

Feinbaum, who would be running for the seat being vacated by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, sat for an interview with Clay Travis on the right-wing sports website Outkick, where "not only did he express an interest in running for office, spurred in large part by the killing of Charlie Kirk, but Finebaum accused ESPN of preventing him from interviewing Donald Trump on his show in 2019."

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