Pelosi Claims Harris Won An ‘Open Primary’ Despite Complete Lack of Competition

Molly Bruns
-
0
Pelosi Claims Harris Won An ‘Open Primary’ Despite Complete Lack of Competition

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., claimed that Vice President and 2024 Democratic Candidate for the presidency Kamala Harris won an “open” primary, despite having no apparent competition and the entirety of the Democratic establishment rallying around her, according to the Daily Wire.

Pelosi made the claim on comedian Bill Maher’s late night show, “Real Time.”

“Many times I’m encouraging people to run, especially more women, to run for office…” she said. “For Kamala, it was open. Anybody could have gotten in, she wrapped it up–you have to give her credit for that.”

Pelosi reportedly assisted in forcing current President Joe Biden out of the 2024 presidential race.

Pelosi denied her role in the affair, only claiming that she “asked for a campaign that would win.”

“I wasn’t asking him to step down,” Pelosi claimed during an interview with George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America. “I was asking for a campaign that would win. And I wasn’t seeing that on the horizon.”

Some reports indicated that Pelosi told Biden he could “take the easy way or the hard way” out of the presidential office, putting her chips down on an allegedly more promising candidate.

Twitter users

“They lie all the time about everything, often in direct opposition to the truth,” said podcast host Brently. “It’s not even to obscure the truth inasmuch as it is to demoralize those that can see through the deception. Everyone knows she’s full of it,”

“‘Anyone could have gotten in’ is a bigger lie than ‘You can keep your own doctor,'” said environmental lawyer and Twitter user Red2024. “The ease with which this woman lies is staggering.”

RFK Jr. Intends to Remove Name from Ballot in Key Swing State

Molly Bruns
-
0
RFK Jr. Intends to Remove Name from Ballot in Key Swing State

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Despite resistance from the state of Virginia, former Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed to remove his name from the ballot in the state, according to Daily Caller.

After fighting to gain access to ballots across the nation, Kennedy dropped out of the race and endorsed Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump.

Despite the open admittance of dropping out of the race, the Virginia Department of elections stated that it received no such word directly from the Kennedy campaign and kept him on the ballot despite the media circus around the news.

Virginia does not have a specific day for the printing of ballots; however, candidates must qualify to be on the ballot by September 6. Early voting in the state starts on September 20.

Kennedy said he intended to remove his name from the ballot, despite the short time frame he has to get that done.

A Trump campaign official from Virginia said that if a candidate dropped out of the race after the printing of the ballots, election workers post signs at voting locations in order to inform voters.

Voters could theoretically still cast their vote for the dropped candidate.

States such as Nevada and Michigan also refused to remove Kennedy’s name from their ballots because it is after their qualifying date, despite his explicit statements requesting his removal.

Wisconsin’s state election commission voted against Kennedy’s request for removal.

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has endorsed President Trump and is actively supporting the Trump-Vance campaign,” said Jeffrey Ryer, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign in Virginia. “President Trump and Senator Vance are campaigning to earn the votes of every American who supported the Kennedy-Shanahan campaign.”

Approximately 6% of Virginians planned to vote for the Independent candidate before he removed himself from the race.

Anonymous Source: Seven U.S. Troops Injured in Iraq on Thursday

Editor 5
-
0
Anonymous Source: Seven U.S. Troops Injured in Iraq on Thursday

(Headline USA) The United States military and Iraq launched a joint raid targeting suspected Islamic State group militants in the country’s western desert that killed at least 15 people and left seven American troops hurt, officials said Saturday.

For years after dislodging the militants from their self-declared caliphate across Iraq and Syria, U.S. forces have fought the Islamic State group, though the casualties from this raid were higher than in previous ones.

The U.S. military’s Central Command said the militants were armed with “numerous weapons, grenades, and explosive ‘suicide’ belts” during the raid Thursday, which Iraqi forces said happened in the country’s Anbar Desert.

“This operation targeted ISIS leaders to disrupt and degrade ISIS’ ability to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against Iraqi civilians, as well as U.S. citizens, allies, and partners throughout the region and beyond,” Central Command said, using an acronym for the militant group. “Iraqi Security Forces continue to further exploit the locations raided.”

It added: “There is no indication of civilian casualties.”

An Iraqi military statement said “airstrikes targeted the hideouts, followed by an airborne operation.”

“Among the dead were key ISIS leaders,” Iraq’s military said, without identifying them. “All hideouts, weapons and logistical support were destroyed, explosive belts were safely detonated and important documents, identification papers and communication devices were seized.”

A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the operation yet to be made public, told The Associated Press that five American troops were wounded in the raid, while two others suffered injuries from falls during the operation. One who suffered a fall was transported out of the region, while one of the wounded was evacuated for further treatment, the official said.

“All personnel are in stable condition,” the official said.

It wasn’t immediately clear why it took two days for the U.S. to acknowledge it took part in the raid. Iraq did not say the U.S. took part in the operation when initially announcing it, as politicians debate the future of having American troops in the country. There are approximately 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Since the U.S. toppled dictator Saddam Hussein with its 2003 invasion of Iraq, the country has struggled to balance relations between America and neighboring Iran. Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, Iraqi militias allied to Iran have targeted U.S. forces there, leading to American airstrikes targeting them.

At its peak, the Islamic State group ruled an area half the size of the U.K. It attempted to enforce Sharia Law, which included attacks on religious minority groups and harsh punishment of Muslims deemed to be apostates.

A coalition of more than 80 countries led by the United States was formed to fight the group, which lost its hold on the territory it controlled in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019.

However, the militants have continued to operate in the Anbar Desert in Iraq and Syria, while claiming attacks carried out by others elsewhere in the world inspired by the group. That includes the two suspects in a foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift shows in Vienna. Meanwhile, the IS branch in Afghanistan is known to carry out intensely bloody assaults.

Last month, the U.S. military said the number of attacks claimed by IS in Syria and Iraq was on track to double this year, compared with the year before. IS claimed 153 attacks in the two countries in the first six months of 2024, compared with 121 attacks in all of 2023.

Iraqi officials say that they can keep the IS threat under control with their own forces and have entered into talks with the U.S. aimed at winding down the mission of the U.S.-led military coalition in Iraq.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza last October, U.S. military presence in the region has become particularly contentious.

An umbrella group of Iran-backed militias calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has periodically launched drone attacks on bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, which they said was in retaliation for Washington’s support of Israel in the ongoing war in Gaza and were aimed at forcing U.S. forces to withdraw from Iraq.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Illegals Keep Trying to Ride School Buses with Students on Board

Editor 5
-
0
Illegals Keep Trying to Ride School Buses with Students on Board

(Kenneth Schrupp, The Center Square) Illegals attempted to board San Diego area school buses with children still inside for two days in a row, in one case requiring parents and the bus driver to keep the migrants away. In response, the school district says buses will no longer stop when migrants are present.

Jamul-Dulzura Union School District told Fox 5 that on Tuesday afternoon, a group of three men walked in the middle of the highway tried to stop a school bus, requiring the vehicle to take evasive action.

On Wednesday morning, a group of 20 migrants tried to board a school bus at a bus stop where elementary students were waiting with their parents for pickup. Parents and drivers “stepped in, keeping the migrants at bay.”

“He was really confused. He said these adults, they weren’t kids, they had backpacks on and they tried to get on our bus. And there were a lot of them,” said Nicole Cardinale, whose eight year old son was already on the bus, told the TV station.

The presence of backpacks suggests the individuals had recently crossed the border; Jamul is just inland from San Diego and just north of the California-Mexico border.

“Earlier today I notified transportation families about two recent incidents involving our school buses on Highway 94. Both incidents involved people either trying to stop or board a bus at a bus stop,” wrote school district superintendent Liz Bystedt in a letter to parents.

“I want to say thank you to our bus drivers for keeping our students safe and to the parents who helped to ensure the bus was not boarded.”

Bystedt wrote that the district had already contacted law enforcement, including border patrol, about the incident.

In an email to parents, Bystedt also said that buses would not be stopping at any stops where migrants are present, and that parents should follow the bus to the next migrant-free stop to pick up or drop off their children.

Feds Say Pharmacy Burglary Ring is Largest in DEA History

Editor 5
-
0
Feds Say Pharmacy Burglary Ring is Largest in DEA History

(Merrilee Gasser, The Center Square) – Over 40 people accused of running the largest pharmacy burglary stole approximately $12 million worth of controlled substances, according to an indictment.

The bust is the largest in the history of the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the Department of Justice.

U.S. Attorney Jonathan D. Ross for the Eastern District of Arkansas said Thursday the group of 42 people worked together to burglarize over 200 pharmacies across 31 states. More than 11 of the affected pharmacies were located in Arkansas, according to Ross.

Ross said the group, based in Houston, Texas, targeted independent, non-chain pharmacies in rural locations and would drive rental cars or take flights to get there. Their pattern would be to go to their selected target locations in the early morning, break the glass and crawl on the floor to avoid motion detectors.

Stolen medications included opioids like oxycodone and hydrocodone, along with other prescription drugs like Xanax, Adderall and promethazine, Ross said.

“As a result, hundreds of thousands of pills and gallons of promethazine cough syrup were returned and distributed on the streets of Texas,” said Ross.

The street value of the stolen medications is approximately $12 million, according to federal officials.

“As we know, the opioid epidemic is still with us: 107,543 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2023, of which 81,083 were due to opioids,” Ross said. “Theft and illegal distribution of prescription opioid and other scheduled medications fuels the addiction and overdose crisis throughout the United States and theft and illegal distribution of prescription opioid and other scheduled medications result in millions of dollars in proceeds to pro-criminal organizations perpetuating dangerous criminal activity.”

Previously, Ross’s office announced Phase 1 of Operation #RichoffMeds in December. At that point, 18 suspected members of the crime ring had been indicted for burglaries that took place in Arkansas.

This week’s announcement comes after a superseding indictment was returned by an Arkansas grand jury, which charged 24 additional people in the conspiracy to distribute controlled substances for acts that occurred nationwide, Ross said.

Law enforcement seized 11 firearms, around $79,000 in U.S. currency, and custom jewelry retailing at about $510,000 in Houston, which Ross said were proceeds from the sale of pharmaceutical drugs.

Most of the defendants appeared in a court in Little Rock Thursday afternoon. The remaining defendants will be in court in September.

“An investigation and indictment of this kind represents the best results of cooperation and collaboration by law enforcement personnel and prosecutors working within the appropriate oversight from the judicial branch,” said Ross.

Multi Agency Operation Nabs 33 Violent Gang Members in Border Town of Uvalde

Editor 5
-
0
Multi Agency Operation Nabs 33 Violent Gang Members in Border Town of Uvalde

(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) Thirty-three members of violent gangs were arrested as part of a multi-agency operation targeting transnational and organized crime in the border town of Uvalde, Texas, and surrounding area in Uvalde County.

“Gang violence has no place here in Texas, we will bring the full force of justice down on these famous criminals,” Gov. Greg Abbott said when directing Texas Department of Public Safety to surge resources there to root out organized crime in September 2022.

Nearly two years ago, a multi-agency operation began, made possible through additional state funding and criminal investigative oversight from DPS targeting an extensive organized crime network operating at the Texas-Mexico border. The investigation focused on the selling and distribution of narcotics, weapons, extortion, aggravated assaults and organized criminal activity of multiple gangs associated with transnational criminal organizations, including Mexican cartels.

DPS deployed special agents to target gang activity in the Uvalde area with a priority of focusing on Tango affiliated gangs and the Latin King gang, which are classified by DPS as Tier 1 and Tier 2 gangs, respectively.

After an extensive investigation, 33 gang members were arrested, including from the Latin Kings, West Texas Tango, Tango Blast, Tango Orejon, Tango Aguilon, Texas Syndicate, Paisa, Texas Mexican Mafia, Maniac Latin Disciples, and San Antonio Walked Down Gang, according to a statement from the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office.

The 38th Judicial District handed down 68 state indictments related to narcotics trafficking and engaging in organized criminal activity. The U.S. Western District, Del Rio Division, handed 17 federal indictments related to racketeering and conspiracy.

Texas DPS criminal investigators have identified gang activity “as a growing and serious problem in Uvalde and the surrounding area.”

Joining them in the investigation were investigators with the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office, Uvalde Police Department, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations. The 38th District Attorney’s Border Prosecution Unit and the U.S. Attorney’s office are prosecuting the case.

The investigation targeted the Uvalde area nearly 10 years after a joint operation in 2015 vanquished major gang operations there resulting in the Latin Kings being disbanded, the sheriff’s office said. Since that time, gang activity increased with the “most recent gang activity involve[ing] some of the children of those former incarcerated gang members.”

The investigation was a collaborative effort “to identify and combat violent crime from the southern border of the United States,” the sheriff said.

“We will not tolerate this criminal activity in our community,” District Attorney Christina Mitchell said. “We will uncover anyone who participates, collaborates or permits this cancer in our town.”

She also said she anticipated more indictments and arrests coming from the investigation.

The indictments and arrests were issued after 33 Latin King members and associates were convicted in October 2020 on federal racketeering charges.

Formally known as the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, the Latin King gang has tens of thousands of members operating in chapters in different states, law enforcement officials have explained to The Center Square. In 2020, 33 members of the Austin, San Antonio and Uvalde chapters of the Latin King’s Central Region of Texas, were sentenced to between 45 and 288 months in federal prison. They were convicted for their role in operating a criminal enterprise in Central Texas for ten years beginning in 2005, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Texas.

Four leaders received the most prison time of between nearly 16 years and 22 years. They include the leader of the Texas-Central Region, “Inca” Pete Perez, in Austin; San Antonio’s chapter leader, “Inca” Joe Pierce (“Dro”); Uvalde’s chapter leader, “Incas” James Marty Long (“Whiteboy”) and Jacob Mariscal (“Righteous”).

They were convicted and sentenced for conspiring “to carry out unlawful acts including attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, extortion, robbery, various firearms offenses and drug distribution involving marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine.”

“Violent gangs like the Latin Kings are made up of members who wake up each and everyday intent on committing violence, dealing drugs, breaking our laws and threatening our social fabric. Simply put, they cannot be allowed to run unchecked in our streets,” stated U.S. Attorney Gregg Sofer said at the time.

Acts of violence perpetrated by the gang members, according to court records, include: assaulting a rival gang member by beating “his head, face and body with rocks, bats, and glass bottles;” conspiring to shoot a rival gang member, and providing the gun to do so, in retaliation for a Latin King member being stabbed; driving a vehicle into rival gang members; using women to lure rival gang members to a residence where “they were stabbed, punched, kicked, and beaten with a baseball bat;” among other acts of violence including shootings, stabbings and beatings.

MURDOCK: RFK Jr. Asks Trump What He Can Do for His Country as Dems Attack Free Speech

Editor 1
-
0
MURDOCK: RFK Jr. Asks Trump What He Can Do for His Country as Dems Attack Free Speech

(Deroy Murdock, Headline USA) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s endorsement of President Donald J. Trump is a marvel to behold. It is astonishing that such a prominent member of America’s quintessential Democrat family embraced the most conservative Republican nominee since President Ronald Reagan.

If a majority of Kennedy’s roughly 6% of likely voters support Trump on Nov. 5, they could compose the 3.1% that he might need to edge Vice President Kamala Harris in a photo finish.

But Kennedy should add value beyond Election Day. If re-elected, Trump should ask him to chair a new Presidential Commission to Make Free Speech Great Again.

Kennedy and his commissioners should investigate federal assaults on the First Amendment—most notoriously Washington, D.C.’s election-interference campaign to censor news coverage of Hunter Biden’s Laptop from Hell.

“The FBI warned us about a potential Russian disinformation operation about the Biden family and Burisma,” Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R–Ohio, on Monday.

After the Oct. 14, 2020, New York Post exposed Hunter’s laptop and its evidence of the Bidens’ dodgy international deals, “we sent that story to fact-checkers for review and temporarily demoted it while waiting for a reply,” Zuckerberg acknowledged. “It’s since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we shouldn’t have demoted the story.”

After conferring with Biden–Harris campaign aide Antony Blinken (now secretary of state), former acting CIA chief Michael Morrell recruited 50 other former intelligence officers. They signed an open letter that dismissed the Post’s exclusive for containing “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”

Biden–Harris’s allies and other Deep State denizens used the ex-spies’ communiqué to dragoon Facebook, Twitter (now X), and other social-media giants into censoring the Hunter story. In fact, Twitter (pre-Elon Musk) padlocked the Post’s account for 15 days!

Meanwhile, during his final debate against Trump that Oct. 22, Joe Biden used the ex-spies’ bogus letter to denounce the Post’s true story as “a bunch of garbage.”

Mission accomplished! Millions of voters never learned about the Biden family’s corruption that haunted Hunter’s laptop. Within days, Crooked Joe captured the Oval Office.

“In 2021,” Zuckerberg added, “senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn’t agree.”

Biden–Harris’s Justice Department sicced the FBI on “domestic terrorists,” specifically parents who complained to school boards about critical race theory and transgender practices.

The administration proposed that a Disinformation Governance Board patrol the internet for undesirable “misinformation,” and then deplatform and punish Biden–Harris’s detractors.

While public ridicule doomed the DGB, Biden–Harris reportedly still coerce tech giants to silence the administration’s critics. Biden–Harris’s FBI also spied on “violent extremists,” namely Latin-Mass Catholics.

These unconstitutional policies also oppressed Kennedy. As the pandemic roared on, his concerns about COVID-19 vaccines got buried.

“What alarms me is the resort to censorship, media control, and weaponization of the federal agencies,” Kennedy said in Phoenix on Aug. 23, as he suspended his campaign. “When a U.S. president colludes with, or outright coerces, media companies to censor political speech, it’s an attack on our most sacred right of free expression.”

As a victim of Biden–Harris’s censorship, Kennedy is ideally suited to investigate their War on the First Amendment. The Kennedy Commission should identify every federal employee who perpetrated these unconstitutional outrages. Trump then should tell these totalitarians: “You’re fired!” The attorneys among them should be disbarred, and their law licenses shredded. Those who violated federal law should be prosecuted, convicted, and imprisoned.

And on Day One, Trump should revoke the security clearances of those 51 lying ex-spies. This would signal—big league—that censorship is dead, and free speech is alive and well.

What a beautiful, bipartisan victory this would be for America, courtesy of Democrat Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Republican Donald J. Trump.

Deroy Murdock is a Manhattan-based Fox News contributor.

Leftist Influencers Admit to Owning Multiple Websites Promoting Porn

Luis Cornelio
-
0
Leftist Influencers Admit to Owning Multiple Websites Promoting Porn

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Democrat influencers Ed and Brian Krassenstein, anti-Donald Trump social media posts, have admitted to owning several domains, including some allegedly linked to “teen” porn sites, according to the Daily Mail. 

Their admission followed screenshots released by science writer Dr. Simon Goddek, one of the brothers’ critics, allegedly showing that the Krassenstein brothers owned these sites. 

The brothers clarified that they did not directly operate the sites but purchased the domains in bulk to resell or rent them in the future. 

“TeenPies.com,” “TeenPie.com” and “TeenPorn101.com” were among the domains reportedly owned by the brothers.

They clarified that they have appeared as the sites’ registrants because they acted as intermediaries between potential buyers and sellers. 

In one message board, a user named “edbri871” — a username reportedly linked to the Krassensteins — inquired about the price of a porn-related domain, according to the screenshots.

The same user signed off other messages as “Brian,” the name of one of the brothers. On the domain-buying site Web Hosting Talk, the user inquired about purchasing sites “that are aimed toward young adults,” without making any sexual references.

In response to the allegations, the brothers conceded to buying large quantities of domain names, including potential porn-related ones, with the intent of brokering them. 

“Just because we owned 15,000 domain names and brokered or escrowed 100,000+ others—of which maybe 5 had adult-related names—doesn’t mean we ever operated adult websites. Domain names are merely internet property,” Ed wrote on X. 

Addressing the Daily Mail’s coverage of the porn-related sites, Brian sarcastically commented, “Oh my god! 15 years ago when we brokered tens of thousands of domain names a few of them had the word “porn” in them. WOW!  What a breaking story!” 

Although the brothers haven’t been accused of any wrongdoing related to these adult sites, their ownership of domain names used by online fraudsters previously landed them in legal trouble with the DOJ. 

In 2017, federal agents raided their homes, seizing nearly half a million dollars. Prosecutors argued at the time that these funds were obtained through ads on Ponzi schemes and investment websites they owned.

The brother later agreed to forfeit $450,000 out of the $524,390 made through the sale of one of their rental properties, according to a consent to forfeiture motion reviewed by Headline USA.

The Krassensteins have been prominent anti-Trump activists since 2017, gaining notoriety for their obsessive replies to Trump’s tweets. They were suspended from Twitter in 2019 for allegedly creating fake accounts to boost their reach but were reinstated in 2022.

Venezuelan Gang Seizes Full Apartment Complex in Colorado

Luis Cornelio
-
0
Venezuelan Gang Seizes Full Apartment Complex in Colorado

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Chilling security footage captured a group of heavily armed individuals storming the stairwell of an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado. 

Authorities confirm that these men have taken control of the building, terrorized residents and forcibly entered an apartment.

The footage shows them speaking in Spanish and carrying weapons as they ascend the stairs. 

DHS sources informed Fox News that the men are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which has recently caused disturbances in several communities across the country. 

Fox 31 (KDVR) reported that the video was recorded shortly before a shootout that resulted in one serious injury and several damaged vehicles. 

Former residents Cindy and Edward Romero, who moved out on Wednesday, described their ordeal as “being held hostage,” according to CBS News Colorado.

Authorities believe the gang members began extorting residents for money after the Biden-Harris administration’s border policies allowed more Venezuelans into the country. 

This program came under scrutiny after an internal DHS report revealed it had been subjected to fraud. It was reinstated earlier this week. 

Aurora’s Mike Coffman sounded the alarm about the federal program in an interview with Fox News, calling for federal intervention. 

Aurora City Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky criticized the lack of assistance for Americans facing this alleged terror. 

“The city nonprofits have lined up to help the migrants that have come here but nobody is helping the Americans that are trapped in these apartment complexes,” Jurinsky said. 

The Aurora Police Department released a lengthy statement, claiming that it is actively working with local, state and federal partners to address concerns about the Venezuelan gang. 

“We are aware that components of TdA are operating in Aurora,” the police said, refusing to release specific details. “APD has been increasingly collecting evidence to show the gang is connected to crimes in the area. However, as we have said previously and as the DEA similarly stated, it would be improper at this time for the city and APD to make any conclusory statements about specific incidents or provide details about law enforcement strategy and operations.” 

Anti-Trump Movie w/ Ivana ‘Rape’ Scene to Get Pre-Election Release by Dem. Megadonor

Editor 1
-
0
Anti-Trump Movie w/ Ivana ‘Rape’ Scene to Get Pre-Election Release by Dem. Megadonor

(Headline USA) After struggling to drum up interest following its Cannes Film Festival premiere, The Apprentice, starring Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump, has found a distributor that plans to release the film shortly before the election in November.

Briarcliff Entertainment will release The Apprentice on Oct. 11 in U.S. and Canadian theaters, just weeks before Americans cast their ballots on Nov. 5.

That effectively makes it a de-facto campaign donation from Briarcliff founder and CEO Tom Ortenberg, who already has made at least 250 donations to Democrats in the current 2023-2024 election cycle alone. That includes more than $6,500 this year to Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign according to records from the Federal Election Commission.

Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign, called the film’s release “election interference by Hollywood elites right before November” in a statement Friday.

“This ‘film’ is pure malicious defamation, should never see the light of day, and doesn’t even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store, it belongs in a dumpster fire,” Cheung said.

Director Ali Abbasi, the Danish Iranian filmmaker, had prioritized getting The Apprentice into theaters before voters head to the polls. After larger studios and film distributors opted not to bid on the film, Abbasi complained in early June on X that “for some reason certain power people in your country don’t want you to see it!!!”

Part of what dampened interest in The Apprentice was the potential threat of legal action. After its Cannes premiere in May, Cheung called the movie “pure fiction” and said the Trump team would file a lawsuit “to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers.”

The Apprentice chronicles Trump’s rise to power in New York real estate under the tutelage of legendary defense attorney Roy Cohn (played by Jeremy Strong).

Late in the movie, Trump is depicted raping his wife, Ivana Trump (played by Maria Bakalova).

In Ivana Trump’s 1990 divorce deposition, she stated that Trump raped her. Trump denied the allegation and Ivana Trump later said she didn’t mean it literally, but rather that she had felt violated.

Trump offered an elegant eulogy of his first wife after her shocking 2022 death from blunt force trauma following a fall down the stairs.

While Trump may have shown fearlessness when confronted by an assassin’s bullet, those close to him have recounted that Ivana’s passing was one of the few times the ice-veined GOP leader has appeared to be emotionally distraught.

Nonetheless, Abbasi has claimed Trump might not dislike the movie, while unabashedly using his two-hour propaganda piece as a way to get the former president’s attention.

“I would offer to go and meet him wherever he wants and talk about the context of the movie, have a screening and have a chat afterwards, if that’s interesting to anyone at the Trump campaign,” Abbasi said in May.

Ortenberg has a long history of pushing leftist cinematic revisionism, including Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 while at Lionsgate. He was also chief executive of Open Road, which backed the best picture Oscar winner Spotlight.

Briarcliff Entertainment previously released 2022’s Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down, documenting the wife of current Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who was reportedly Barack Obama’s top choice to be Harris’s running mate.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

1...1,0921,0931,094...3,851Page 1,093 of 3,851