A Republican congressman was caught on camera giving away his real goal at the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), one of Donald Trump's strongest allies in the U.S. House, was asked Tuesday on Capitol Hill what he hopes to gain from the inquiry into the president and his family's business dealings, and video obtained by Rolling Stone shows him appearing to admit it's political theater.
“All I can say is: Donald J. Trump 2024, baby!” Nehls replied.
Rolling Stone contacted Nehls, who suggested Trump as a potential House speaker after Kevin McCarthy was ousted, for comment, and he was a bit more reserved than he was in the video.
Republicans, “Will follow the rule of law and go where the facts lead us," he said.
An “ugly” final day in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial saw his lawyers whipping out anonymous online student reviews to discredit an Ivy League professor who testified the former president committed fraud, according to reports.
Jesus Suarez came to court with “RateMyProfessors.com” reviews he hurled at Dr. Eric Lewis, a Cornell University accounting professor who said in court Wednesday that Trump Organization records lacked important financial disclosures, according to multiple reports.
"Suarez is just reading bad ratemyprofessors.com reviews of Eric Lewis to discredit him," wrote Courthouse News’ Erik Uebelacker. "Lol."
He earlier warned, "This shouldn't take long, but it could be ugly."
Among those reviews, according to Uebelacker, was the comment “Good class if you want to chill and not learn much."
Rate My Professors may not set the highest standard of accuracy as the "Friends" character Ross Geller, a fictional paleontology professor at NYU, reportedly has a profile.
This final day in court follows a marathon trial to determine damages owed by Trump, who Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled is liable for fraud. New York Attorney General seeks upwards of $250 million and a ban on doing business in her state. Trump denies wrongdoing.
Suarez’ redirect followed a tense hour that saw state attorney Kevin Wallace trying to question his expert as Trump Attorney Chris Kise raised objections at least 14 times, ABC News reports.
When Wallace reportedly voiced his frustration, Kise snapped back, "Petulant outbursts don't really play well in the courtroom.”
The testimony delivered amid the back-and-forth baffled Judge Arthur Engoron, who at one point admitted, "I am lost," according to ABC news.
Suarez’s rebuttal appears to have come to an abrupt end when he tried to call Lewis on not being certified as a public accountant, according to Uebelacker.
"Q: Did they teach you how to read [accounting] standards in engineering school?'
"A: Who’s ‘they?’
"Q: 'Withdrawn.'
“That's it for rebuttal,” Uebelacker concluded. “The People of NY rests its case.”
Donald Trump's "MAGA shock troops" are signaling that if he's elected in 2024, he will be punishing his enemies, including many of the journalists who reported on him for the past 8 years — an endeavor that will be "Job No. 1," Robin Abcarian writes in The Los Angeles Times.
Abcarian says that demonizing the press is a tactic that Trump has long employed, as evidenced by past comments where he's said the press is “truly the enemy of the people" and that journalists are “scum” and “the absolute worst.” Trump has also said he wants to weaken the country's libel laws to make it easier to sue the press — with the support of some Supreme Court justices.
"This country’s political system is flawed, no doubt about it. A presidential candidate can win the popular vote in a landslide and still lose the White House," Abcarian writes.
"Scheming partisans can draw maps designed to keep them in power endlessly and pass laws designed to depress voter turnout to their benefit. But haven’t we always believed, deep in our bones, that the American free press could never be silenced, that the 1st Amendment protects us from government censorship, and that a well-functioning Fourth Estate really iswhat keeps democracy safe?"
Abcarian even goes so far as to predict that Trump will put reporters in jail "for telling the truth or for giving their opinions," and contends that Trump and his allies have already laid the groundwork for jailing reporters, citing the example of former Trump administration member Kash Patel, who went on Steve Bannon's podcast earlier this month and vowed to hunt down the "conspirators — not just in government but in the media."
Then there's "MAGA Republican attorney" Mike Davis, who promised to “rain hell” on Washington if Trump gives him a Cabinet appointment and jail and deport MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan.
Abcarian then cites "neoconservative scholar" Robert Kagan, who left the Republican Party over Trump, who predicted what would happen if Trump is elected in 2024.
“Think of the power of a man who gets himself elected president despite indictments, courtroom appearances and perhaps even conviction,” Kagan wrote. “Would he even obey a directive of the Supreme Court? Or would he instead ask how many armored divisions the chief justice has?”
U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell reportedly chastised Joe Sibley, an attorney for Rudy Giuliani, after he missed a key detail on court documents.
During the third day of Giuliani's defamation trial, expert witness Dr. Ashlee Humphreys testified that it would take millions to restore the reputations of Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss after they were falsely accused of rigging the 2020 presidential election.
She estimated that $28.4 million to $47 million would be spent to restore the women's reputations. Humphreys expected the campaign to include YouTube and Facebook advertisements.
"So the takeaway here: It can cost A LOT of money to repair your reputation and it can cost even more money to repair your reputation among ppl who would not be easily swayed even WITH repeated exposure to positive messaging," reporter Brandi Buchman noted.
As the trial broke for lunch, Sibley noticed that the damages for Freeman and Moss had been lumped together on the verdict form.
"Judge chastises Giuliani's lawyer Joe Sibley for saying he didn't notice the verdict form lumped both plaintiffs together," Sam Levine reported for The Guardian. "'It's as clear as day,' she said. You're not noticing some critical things, she said."
Donald Trump's attorneys were given "marching orders" in December 2020 not to get the then-president's hopes up about overturning his election loss, according to new evidence turned up in an election subversion case.
CNN obtained audio recordings of attorney Kenneth Chesebro telling Michigan state prosecutors last week that he and other Trump lawyers were given that clear instruction before going into the Oval Office for a photo opportunity with the ex-president two days after the Wisconsin Supreme Court had rejected his lawsuit to nullify the state's election results.
“There was a conscious effort to deflect him from a sense of any possibility that he could pull out the election,” Chesebro told prosecutors. "Our marching orders were: Don’t say anything that makes him feel more positive than the beginning of the meeting.’”
It's not clear who gave those orders to the attorneys, who were in Washington, D.C., for a Senate hearing about election issues, but Chesebro told Trump he could still win in Arizona and discussed details of his fake electors scheme — which has resulted in criminal charges against the former president, many of his allies and state Republican officials who took part.
“I ended up explaining that Arizona was still hypothetically possible — because the alternate electors had voted,” Chesebro told investigators in Michigan, where 15 Republicans have been charged with forgery and other crimes.
"[This made it] clear [to Trump] in a way that maybe it hadn’t been before, that we had until Jan. 6 to win, and that, you know, created a real problem."
A source told CNN that former Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus was visibly angry when he saw Chesebro whispering the plot to Trump, and Chesebro told investigators that Priebus, "Was going to do damage control … to mitigate whatever optimism I guess I created.”
Chesebro got a stern email two days later from Jim Troupis, who had led the Wisconsin challenge but bluntly told Trump at the photo opp that he had no path to victory in his state — although the former president infamously told the crowd during his Jan. 6, 2021, "Stop the Steal" rally that "we won Wisconsin," citing several fraud claims that were rejected in Troupis' lawsuit.
"Reince was very explicit in his admonition that nothing about our meeting with the President can be shared with anyone," Troupis said in the email. "The political cross-currents are deep and fast and neither you or I have any ability to swim through them.”
Former President Donald Trump is selling pieces of his suit he wore when his mugshot photograph was taken in Georgia earlier this year — and his former communications aide Alyssa Farah Griffin is upset that people are falling for his scam.
Meanwhile, former Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is selling himself on Cameo. At first, he quoted $200 per video. It was then increased to $400 and now he's up to $500 per video.
"I hate this so much," said Griffin. " ... Do not support known fraudsters by paying money to — The Cameos I've seen are kind of funny, but this is a man who defrauded a veteran's charity, allegedly. He's violated federal laws and then the other known fraudster here, Donald Trump, I mean, this just shows how ridiculous our politics have gotten. All about enriching himself and staying out of jail."
She went on to say that she was struck when she recalled that Trump hasn't won an election since 2016. To put it into a historical context, that was prior to Apple Airpods and Fortnite.
"He's a loser!" she said of Trump. "My point being: he's a known loser, he's lost consistently for the GOP. He is bad for the country and it's time to move on."
Sunny Hostin, however, considered that the reason that Trump might be selling off parts of his clothing could be financial desperation.
"You know what it showed me? He's really broke and doesn't have any money and is not a business person. When you have to sell pieces of your suit that you wore during your mugshot, you know, for criminal charges? Like how low can you go?"
Attorneys for Donald Trump are now comparing Jack Smith to the "Grinch," while alleging the Special Counsel is attempting to disenfranchise millions of American voters by trying to convict the ex-president.
"The prosecution has one goal in this case: To unlawfully attempt to try, convict, and sentence President Trump before an election in which he is likely to defeat President Biden. This represents a blatant attempt to interfere with the 2024 presidential election and to disenfranchise the tens of millions of voters who support President Trump’s candidacy," the ex-president's attorneys wrote in a motion opposing expedited review of Trump's already-rejected claim of absolute immunity from prosecution because he was President when he attempted to overturn the 2020 election results.
And citing Dr. Seuss' iconic 1957 children's book, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" the attorneys likened Special Counsel Smith to the main character, perhaps forgetting in the end he also becomes the hero.
Denouncing Smith's proposed schedule, Trump's lawyers complain it "would require attorneys and support staff to work round-the-clock through the holidays, inevitably disrupting family and travel plans."
They wrote: " 'It is as if the Special Counsel 'growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming, ‘I must find some way to keep Christmas from coming. ... But how?’ ''”
It is an apparent effort to delay review, as The Messenger reported. Trump's attorneys appeared to try to dictate a different schedule than the one the Special Counsel proposed, which might also impact the trial's schedule.
"Even if the Court grants the motion to expedite—which it should not—any such acceleration should be more measured, and allow, at minimum, twenty days from the scheduling order until the filing of President Trump’s opening brief— especially in light of the impending holidays. Likewise, the Special Counsel’s proposal of a three-day window to file the reply brief...is wholly unreasonable. The Court should grant no less than fourteen days for a proper reply brief and 21 days to prepare for oral argument on these momentous issues, even if it expedites the appeal. Anything less would result in a heedless rush to judgment on some of the most sensitive and important issues that this Court may ever decide."
Hunter Biden accused "MAGA" Republicans of lying and blasted the "unrelenting Trump attack machine" in a passionate speech on Capitol Hill to set the record straight on his business dealings and personal finances after House GOP committee chairs refused his offer to testify before Congress in public. The chairs threatened him with contempt of Congress if he did not testify behind closed doors.
"Let me state as clearly as I can," the President's son stated unequivocally Wednesday morning, minutes after he was scheduled to testify (videos below). "My father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma. Not in my partnership with a Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist."
Republicans have been trying to use the Hunter Biden's business dealings as an bridge to impeach President Joe Biden, but have been unable to provide any actual proof against the President of any criminal acts or impeachable offenses.
In his remarks, Hunter Biden acknowledged he had been "extremely irresponsible" with his finances. "But to suggest that is grounds for an impeachment inquiry is beyond the absurd. It's shameless. There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business. Because it did not happen."
And he accused House Republicans of lying: "They have lied over and over about every aspect of my personal and professional life. So much so that their lies have become the false facts believed by too many people."
He began by saying, "I'm here today to make sure that the House committees' illegitimate investigations of my family do not proceed on distortions, manipulated evidence, and lies."
"And, I'm here today to acknowledge that I've made mistakes in my life, and wasted opportunities and privileges I was afforded. For that, I'm responsible. For that, I'm accountable. And for that, I'm making amends," the President's son defiantly declared in his six-minute remarks.
"But I'm also here today to correct how the MAGA right has portrayed me for their political purposes. I am first and foremost a son, a father, a brother, and a husband, from a loving and supportive family. I'm proud to have earned degrees from Georgetown University and Law School. I'm proud of my legal career and business career. I'm proud of my time serving on a dozen different boards of directors. And I'm proud of my efforts to forge global business relationships."
"For six years, MAGA Republicans, including members of the House committees who are in a closed door session session right now, have impugned my character, invaded my privacy, attacked my wife, my children, my family, and my friends. They have ridiculed my struggle with addiction. They belittled my recovery, and they have tried to dehumanize me, all to embarrass and damage my father who has devoted his entire public life to service. For six years, I've been the target of the unrelenting Trump attack machine shouting, 'Where's Hunter?' Well, here's my answer: I am here."
"During my battle with addiction, my parents were there for me. They literally saved my life. They helped me in ways that I will never be able to repay, and of course they would never expect me to."
"And in the depths of my addiction, I was extremely irresponsible with my finances. But to suggest that is grounds for an impeachment inquiry is beyond the absurd. It's shameless. There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business. Because it did not happen."
Referring to the chairs of the House Committees on Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means, Hunter Biden declared: "James Comer, Jim Jordan, Jason Smith and their colleagues have distorted the facts. By cherry-picking lines from a bank statement, manipulating texts I sent, editing the testimony of my friends and former business partners, and misstating personal information that was stolen from me. There is no fairness or decency in what these Republicans are doing."
"They have lied over and over about every aspect of my personal and professional life. So much so that their lies have become the false facts believed by too many people."
"No matter how many times it is debunked, they continue to insist that my father's support of Ukraine against Russia is the result of a non-existent bribe. They displayed naked photos of me during an Oversight hearing. And they have taken the light of my dad's love, the light of my dad's love for me, and it presented it as darkness."
"They have no shame. These same committee chairmen have engaged in unprecedented political interference, in what would have already been a five-year investigation of me. Yet, here I am, Mr. Chairman, taking up your offer, when you said, 'We can bring these people in for depositions, or committee hearings, whichever they choose.' Well, I've chosen I'm here to testify at a public hearing today to answer any of the committee's legitimate questions. Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry, or hear what I have to say."
Donald Trump hasn't been shy about stating his dictatorial ambitions, and his campaign cemented that narrative by commenting on his threats.
The former president and 2024 Republican frontrunner, along with some of his allies, have openly threatened to use government powers against their enemies, suggesting they'll invoke the Insurrection Act upon taking office, pardon Jan. 6 rioters, create immigrant detention camps and stack the government with loyalists — and The Bulwark columnist A.B. Stoddard said those threats should set voters on edge.
"Donald Trump has chosen to make 'dictator' his brand," she wrote. "No one made him do it. But the fact that he did, eleven months before the election, is a good thing."
Trump tiptoed back slightly from threats he's made on social media or at campaign rallies by telling Sean Hannity on Fox News that he would only act like a dictator on "Day One," and his namesake son and allies like Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) insisted he was only joking.
Stoddard said his campaign's reaction was telling.
"Apparently, the Trump campaign finds all of these extreme threats, potential hires, and affirmative responses from Trump about his new dictator label a bit unseemly," Stoddard wrote. "It’s actually disqualifying. And they know it."
The campaign has reportedly asked congressional allies to push back against critics who say he's a wannabe dictator and told the media that no messages about his presidential staffing should be considered official unless it came from Trump or an authorized member his team, but Stoddard said it's too late to ease fears that a second term poses a threat to democracy.
"There are plenty of new voters, young voters, and independents Trump will need to win the general election who don’t fall into the Never Trump category," she wrote. "The word 'dictator' is not likely to land well with the median swing voter who is disengaged from politics but will not be able to miss this characterization next year — with the accompanying sound bites to prove it."
"And no matter how many memos or meetings the Trump campaign puts together, Trump won’t stop amplifying his autocratic fantasies because he can’t," Stoddard added. "They consume him. There is no quiet part. Everything is out loud."
Donald Trump will not be able to use "presidential immunity" as a defense in a defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll after he claimed that he did not rape her.
A three-judge panel on the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled to uphold a federal judge's previous decision against Trump. The court found that Trump had waived his presidential immunity, and rejected his attempts to assert it as a defense now.
"[R]ecognizing presidential immunity as waivable reinforces, not undermines, the separation of powers and the President's decision making authority by affording the President an opportunity to litigate if he so chooses. Accordingly, we hold that presidential immunity is waivable," Judge José Cabranes wrote.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) agreed to hear the appeal of a January 6 defendant. The implications could impact former President Donald Trump's pending criminal trial.
SCOTUS granted several writs of certiorari Wednesday, in which it agrees to take up cases heard in federal appellate courts. The last writ granted on Wednesday was in the case of Fischer, Joseph W. v. United States, which involves a participant in the deadly U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
The underlying question of the case was whether Fischer "corruptly" acted to obstruct official proceedings in attacking police officers guarding the US Capitol. One of the charges in Fischer's initial indictment was obstruction of an official proceeding, which NBC News reports is also one of the charges the former president is facing.
The U.S. District Court ruled in favor of Fischer in the case, and the Department of Justice appealed. Following the DOJ's appeal, a U.S. Court of Appeals panel overturned the lower court's decision and ruled Fischer did, in fact, act corruptly to disrupt proceedings.
Now the question will go before SCOTUS, and its decision will almost certainly impact Trump's own case.
"Fischer allegedly belonged to the mob that forced Congress to stop its certification process. On January 6, 2021, he encouraged rioters to 'charge' and 'hold the line,' had a 'physical encounter' with at least one law enforcement officer, and participated in pushing the police," U.S. Circuit Judge Florence Pan wrote.
"Before January 6, he allegedly sent text messages to acquaintances, stating: 'If Trump don’t get in we better get to war'; 'Take democratic [C]ongress to the gallows. . . . Can’t vote if they can’t breathe . . . lol'; and 'I might need you to post my bail. . . . It might get violent. . . . They should storm the capital [sic] and drag all the democrates [sic] into the street and have a mob trial.'"
In describing SCOTUS' decision to take up the Fischer case, Politico legal correspondent Kyle Cheney tweeted that the heart of the case "is whether those who breached the Capitol 'corruptly' obstructed Congress' proceedings on Jan. 6 — and how to define 'corruptly.' Depending on how SCOTUS rules, Cheney wrote that the Court "could derail hundreds of Jan. 6 felony prosecutions — and could also deal a blow to special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of former President Donald Trump."
The obstruction of an official proceeding charge carries a maximum federal prison sentence of 20 years. Smith has also charged Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
Donald Trump blew off settlement rumors circulating around his $250 million fraud case in an all-caps social media rant Wednesday.
Trump again bemoaned the pre-trial summary judgment from New York City civil court judge Arthur Engoron that found the former president liable for defrauding Trump Organization lenders and investors.
"HE RULED THAT I WAS A FRAUD BEFORE HE EVEN SAW THE CASE, THEN TRIED TO GET ME TO SETTLE,” Trump wrote. “A TOTAL HIT JOB.”
His message on Truth Social arrived on the final day of testimony in a marathon case that pitted Trump and his two sons against the legal team of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who accuses them of inflating asset values to defraud lenders and investors.
As is made plain in the all-caps screed, Trump denies wrongdoing.
Engoron has been frequently targeted by Trump, who contends the case is politically motivated by biased New York officials, yet he appeared sentimental in court Wednesday, ABC News reports.
"In a strange way, I am going to miss this trial," Engoron reportedly said. "It has been an experience."
An army of internet trolls is going to war for former President Donald Trump with the latest artificial intelligence tools, reportedThe New York Times on Wednesday — and many of their top targets are women and minorities.
"Cheered on by Mr. Trump, the group traffics freely in misinformation, artificial intelligence and digital forgeries known as deepfakes. Its memes are riddled with racist stereotypes, demeaning tropes about L.G.B.T.Q. people and broad scatological humor," reported Ken Bensinger.
In particular, they go after women who are rivals or critics of Trump — for example, "In one video, the former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley’s face is pasted on the body of a nearly naked woman, who kicks a man with the face of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida in the groin.
"Another depicts Casey DeSantis, the governor’s wife, as a porn star. Women with ties to Mr. DeSantis are often shown with red knees, suggesting they have performed a sex act."
Racist tropes are also peppered throughout the group's work — for instance, after Trump was indicted on racketeering charges in Georgia by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is Black, "Several team members produced a music video targeting" her, reported Bensinger.
"A Kanye West parody, it used artificial intelligence to mimic Mr. Trump’s voice rapping lyrics that were peppered with racist dog whistles."
The group has also played an outsized role in the online mockery of DeSantis, who has been relentlessly targeted by their memes. They claim credit for helping to take the rumor DeSantis wears lifts in his boots mainstream.
The leader of the group, which calls itself Trump's "Online War Machine," is a Georgia-based podcaster and life coach named Brenden Dilley. And while they operate independently of the Trump campaign, several close Trump allies and officials, including Donald Trump Jr., and campaign officials Steven Cheung and Dan Scavino, routinely share their content.
Dilley says that in addition, he has been showered with gifts from Trump, including dozens of signed MAGA hats, which can routinely resell for thousands of dollars, and a large number of VIP tickets to Trump's rally in Hialeah, Florida.
