saywhat-politics

[saywhat-politics]

The U.S. Secret Service held meetings and started planning for what to do if former President Donald Trump were to be held in contempt in his criminal hush money trial and Judge Juan Merchan opted to send him to short-term confinement, officials familiar with the situation told ABC News.

Merchan on Tuesday reserved decision on the matter after a contentious hearing. Prosecutors said at this point they are seeking a fine.

#donald trump #new york #judge juan merchan #secret service

[saywhat-politics]

Trump Violates Gag Order AGAIN, Fox News Can’t Believe the Injustice & No Crowds Show Up for Trial

Donald Trump is losing steam and has been encouraging his supporters to rally outside the courthouse in NYC, the day began with fireworks after several heated exchanges between Trump’s lawyers and the judge, Trump violated his gag order during a hearing about whether he violated the gag order, the one and only witness today was Trump’s old pal and former publisher of the National Enquirer David Pecker, the bootlickers at Fox News cannot believe the “injustice” against Trump, Mitt Romney weighed in on the $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, Jimmy noticed a small fake Oscar in Donny’s office, it’s the four year anniversary of Donald Trump suggesting we all inject bleach to kill COVID-19, we celebrate World Book Day by honoring The Yellow Pages, and real-life librarians give their thoughts on recent red state bills that threaten up to six years in prison for the crime of lending books that aren’t government approved.

#youtube #jimmy kimmel live

[saywhat-politics]

The founder of the Gateway Pundit, the infamous conspiracy theory site, announced on Wednesday that the company had declared bankruptcy.

Jim Hoft published a message on the website that read, “TGP Communications, the parent company of The Gateway Pundit, recently made the decision to seek protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the Southern District of Florida as a result of the progressive liberal lawfare attacks against our media outlet.”

Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, sued the Gateway Pundit in December of 2021, alleging that Jim and Joe Hoft, twin brothers, behind the conspiracy theory site engaged in “a campaign of lies” that “instigated a deluge of intimidation, harassment, and threats that has forced them to change their phone numbers, delete their online accounts, and fear for their physical safety.”

#gateway pundit #bankruptcy #jim hoft #georgia #election workers #ruby freeman #shaye moss

[saywhat-politics]

[saywhat-politics]

'Donald Trump is incapable of running anything': Union slams Trump in new ad

North America’s Building Trades Unions is endorsing President Biden for 2024, and the union is out with a new ad slamming former President Trump. NABTU President Sean McGarvey joins Morning Joe to discuss.

#youtube #msnbc #morning joe

[saywhat-politics]

An Arizona grand jury has indicted 18 allies of Donald Trump for their efforts to subvert the 2020 election — including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, attorney Rudy Giuliani and former Trump campaign operative Mike Roman.

The indictment, which includes felony counts of conspiracy, fraud and forgery, also describes Trump as an unindicted co-conspirator.

#arizona #grand jury #indictment #2020 election interference

[saywhat-politics]

Prosecutors identified the former Trump adviser as part of a massive criminal conspiracy allegedly orchestrated by Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui.

In a little-noticed court filing earlier this month, federal prosecutors described Steve Bannon as a “co-conspirator” in a massive criminal fraud and racketeering case against a flamboyant, far-right Chinese fugitive, compounding the legal headaches of the former Donald Trump adviser.

FBI agents in March 2023 arrested Guo Wengui, a self-styled anti-Chinese government activist Bannon once advised, charging him and two associates with using a series of fraudulent investment opportunities to defraud thousands of Guo’s supporters in the Chinese diaspora of more than $1 billion.

#steve bannon #court filing #co-conspirator

[saywhat-politics]

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Wednesday that grand jury indictments for 11 people as part of an “alternate electors” scheme to overturn the 2020 Presidential Election.

All charges that have been filed include felony counts of fraud, forgery, and conspiracy.

News about whether state prosecutors would seek charges for the “fake elector” scheme has been anticipated for weeks. During a March taping of Politics Unplugged, Mayes had told Arizona’s Family political editor Dennis Welch that an announcement was imminent.

Who are Arizona’s 11 ‘fake electors’?

Arizona’s false electors included high-profile and powerful politicians. Like Kelli Ward, former chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party, and her husband. Two current GOP state lawmakers, Jake Hoffman from Queen Creek and Anthony Kern from Glendale, were also involved.

Kern, currently running for U.S. Senate in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, has previously called Mayes’ investigation a “joke” and has said that he is refusing to cooperate with her office, adding that he has done nothing wrong.

“There’s no such thing as fake electors,” Kern told Arizona’s Family in December. “If it was illegal, we wouldn’t have done it.”

#arizona #fake electors #2020 presidential election

[saywhat-politics]

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday warned access to abortion care could be further imperiled after oral arguments in a Supreme Court case over an Idaho law restricting abortion.

The court appeared skeptical about whether a federal law ensuring access to lifesaving care included access to abortion care, when necessary, though the justices were split by both ideology and gender.

“The MAGA Supreme Court majority appears ready to rule that the right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ doesn’t extend to women with pregnancy complications or who otherwise need abortions,” Clinton wrote on the social platform X. “This is horrifying, and it is because of Donald Trump.”

Democrats have focused on abortion rights as a political rallying cry for the 2024 race. Abortion ballot measures are planned for multiple swing states, and a recent controversy over abortion access in Arizona has brought that state more into play.

In a second post, Clinton shared an image that stated Arizona’s time zone was “1864,” in reference to a state Supreme Court ruling that implemented a 160-year-old abortion restriction law. State lawmakers agreed to overturn the 1864 law on Wednesday after three attempts.

“We won’t allow our daughters and granddaughters to grow up with fewer rights than we had,” Clinton said.

#hillary clinton #u.s. supreme court #emergency abortion care

[saywhat-politics]

‘Eye popping numbers’: Donald Trump’s electoral math problem that will not go away

Michael Steele, former Republican National Committee Chairman and Elizabeth Neuman, author of the new book Kingdom of Rage joins Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House with reaction to the continued electoral math problem plaguing candidate Donald Trump with the ex-president continuing to struggle to bring over Nikki Haley voters nearly two months after she ended her bid for President.

#youtube #msnbc

[saywhat-politics]

"It's going to make America safer, it's going to make the world safer," he said after signing the bill into law.

The president said the US would "right away" send fresh weapons and equipment to Ukraine to help Kyiv fend off Russian advances.

He spoke a day after the US Senate approved the aid package following months of congressional gridlock.

#russia #ukraine #united states #president joe biden

[saywhat-politics]

The battle between Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and the GOP’s right flank is heating up, with hard-line House conservatives throwing their support behind his primary opponent after the moderate Republican called two of them “scumbags” on national television.

Gonzales kicked the hornet’s nest over the weekend when, during an interview on CNN, he went after Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Bob Good (R-Va.) — “it’s my absolute honor to be in Congress, but I serve with some real scumbags” — launching personal attacks on the conservative duo.

“Matt Gaetz, he paid minors to have sex with them at drug parties. Bob Good endorsed my opponent, a known neo-Nazi,” Gonzales said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “These people used to walk around with white hoods at night. Now they’re walking around with white hoods in the daytime.”

Gaetz, who has denied the allegation, and Good — joined by other hard-liners — shot back at Gonzales, criticizing his voting record, slamming him as a “Republican in name only” and endorsing his primary opponent, Brandon Herrera, a social media influencer and self-proclaimed Second Amendment activist who has worked to plant himself to the right of Gonzales.

[saywhat-politics]

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) took a shot at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Tuesday, saying she is “dragging our brand down.”

“She is a horrible leader,” Tillis said of Greene, according to audio played on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.” “She is dragging our brand down. She — not the Democrats — are the biggest risk to us getting back to a majority.”

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Russia has vowed to "kill the operators" of the silent Ukraine's Baba Yaga drones in yet another chilling warning as the war rages on.

Dmitry Rogozin, the former head of Russia's space agency, said forces operating in southern Ukraine are adjusting their defensive tactics to counter the evolving capabilities of Kyiv's advanced attack drones.

Acknowledging the increased sophistication of Ukraine's Baba Yaga drones, Rogozin stated the opposition has enhanced the range and stealth capabilities of these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

But Rogozin warned in a post on the messaging app Telegram: "We'll destroy them later, when we've studied their habits, routes and tactics.

#russia #ukraine

[saywhat-politics]

Right Wing Watch reported last month that Tim Barton, a national religious-right figure who follows in his father’s footsteps as a dispenser of false Christian nationalist history, had endorsed Dave Nissley, who was waging a challenge to a conservative leader of the state’s House Republicans in the state’s 100th legislative district. Nissley’s fell short in yesterday’s Pennsylvania primary. Incumbent Bryan Cutler, who has no Democratic challenger in the November election, won by a 54-46 margin.

Cutler had the backing of the county GOP committee, but Nissley was backed by the Citizens Alliance Pennsylvania, the state chapter of Gun Owners of America, and “far-right organizations from neighboring counties whose members detest the party establishment in Harrisburg,” including the Citizens Alliance Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Liberty Fund, the Berks County Patriots, and the PA Patriots Coalition. Rachel Wilson-Snyder, the county Moms for Liberty chair, attended the event at which Barton endorsed Nissley. Lancaster Online noted that right-wing groups, including FreePA, had also backed an unsuccessful primary challenger to Cutler in 2022.

LancasterOnline reported that Nissley’s challenge “benefited from a multi-year campaign” by MAGA activists unhappy that Cutler, who was speaker of the state house in 2020, had not used his position to flip the state’s electoral votes to Trump after Joe Biden won the state:

#pennsylvania #republican #dave nissley #tim barton

[saywhat-politics]

US weapons could begin arriving in Ukraine in a matter of days, according to The New York Times.

Russia is intensifying attacks on Ukraine in the window before aid arrives.

There is a vital problem that US aid can't fix: a lack of Ukrainian troops.

The release of a $61 billion aid bill by the US Senate on Tuesday is a massive boost to Ukraine in its battle against Russia's invasion.

According to The New York Times, US weapons could start arriving in Ukraine within days. But on parts of the front line, Ukraine's situation is desperate. And it still has a major problem that aid can't fix: a lack of troops.

"The most important source of Ukrainian weakness is the lack of manpower," Konrad Muzyka, director of the Rochan military consultancy in Poland, told Reuters.

Oleksandr, a battalion commander, told The Washington Post in February that companies in his unit are staffed at around 35% of normal levels.

#russia #ukraine

[saywhat-politics]

Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov was arrested on charges of high treason, not merely corruption as initially reported, according to two independent sources cited by the Russian news outlet Vazhnye Istorii on April 24.

One source explained the situation, saying, "Bribery is for the public. They don't want to talk publicly about high treason yet - it's a big scandal: he is a Deputy Defense Minister, after all."

Another source commented on the improbability of an arrest solely for corruption: "No one would arrest him for corruption. Everyone there [in the Kremlin] has known about this for a long time. Putin gave the order after he was convinced that it was a case of treason."

Compromising materials on Ivanov have reportedly been held by Russian security forces for years. An investigator with Russia’s Investigative Committee told Vazhnye Istorii's editor-in-chief, Roman Anin, that these materials relate to Ivanov's illegal activities during his tenure as head of Oboronstroy, a joint-stock company for defense and space production. Despite the availability of these materials, their use had been previously blocked by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

#russia #deputy defense minister