Trump Defies Judge, Gives Courtroom Speech on Tense Final Day of N.Y. Civil Trial

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Trump Defies Judge, Gives Courtroom Speech on Tense Final Day of N.Y. Civil Trial

(Headline USA) Barred from giving a formal closing argument, Donald Trump wrested an opportunity to speak in court at the conclusion of his New York civil fraud trial Thursday, unleashing a barrage of attacks in a six-minute diatribe before being cut off by the judge.

Trump spoke as far-left judge Arthur Engoron was trying to find out if the former president would follow the judge’s arbitrary stipulations requiring him to keep his remarks focused on matters related to the trial.

Asked whether he would comply with the demands, Trump defied Engoron and simply launched into his speech.

“I am an innocent man,” Trump protested. “I’m being persecuted by someone running for office and I think you have to go outside the bounds.”

Engoron—who earlier denied Trump’s request to give his own closing statement—let him continue almost uninterrupted for what amounted to a brief personal summation, then cut him off for a scheduled lunch break.

Trump’s in-court remarks, which were not televised, ensured a tumultuous final day for a trial over allegations that he habitually exaggerated his wealth on financial statements he provided to banks, insurance companies and others.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who campaigned in 2018 on a promise to prosecute then-President Trump, finally sued the former Manhattan real-estate mogul in 2022, following a four-year fishing expedition that included extensive collusion with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Congressional Democrats and the Biden White House.

James hopes the judge will impose $370 million in penalties and forbid Trump from doing business in New York.

The decision from the leftist judge is almost sure to be appealed, however, following several criticisms over Engoron’s lack of impartiality and his subjective application of the law.

Adding to the day’s tension, the exchanges took place hours after authorities responded to a bomb threat at the judge’s house in New York City’s suburbs. The scare didn’t delay the start of court proceedings.

Trump, the leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination, has disparaged Engoron throughout the trial, accusing him in a social media post Wednesday night of working closely with James.

On Wednesday, Engoron had rejected an unusual plan by Trump to deliver his own closing remarks in the courtroom, in addition to summations from his legal team. The sticking point was that Trump’s lawyers would not agree to the judge’s demand that he stick to “relevant” matters and not try to introduce new evidence or make a campaign speech.

After two of Trump’s lawyers had delivered traditional closing arguments Thursday, one of them, Christopher Kise, asked the judge again whether Trump could speak. Engoron asked Trump whether he would abide by the guidelines.

Trump then launched into his remarks.

“This is a fraud on me. What’s happened here, sir, is a fraud on me,” Trump said. He later accused the judge of not listening to him. “I know this is boring to you.”

“Control your client,” Engoron warned Kise.

Engoron then told Trump he had a minute left, let him speak a little more, and then adjourned.

In the afternoon, a lawyer for New York state said in his closing remarks that Trump and his “cash poor” company couldn’t have completed various development projects without loans and cash flow from interest savings enabled by spurious financial statements.

“Fraud was central to the operation of the Trump Organization’s business,” said the attorney, Kevin Wallace. He said that Trump and the other defendants intentionally put false information in the company’s financial statements.

Engoron, who is deciding the case because state law doesn’t allow for juries in this type of lawsuit, ended the court day by saying he hoped to have a final decision in the case by Jan. 31.

“Not a promise, not a guarantee, but I’m reasonably confident,” he said, adding, “You’ll be hearing from me,” as he left the bench.

Trump skipped the afternoon court session in favor of a news conference that served as counter programming to the state’s closing argument.

He peppered his remarks at a lower Manhattan office building he owns—and could lose control of as a result of the trial—with barbs about President Joe Biden and a writer who accused him of rape, E. Jean Carroll.

The trial involves six undecided claims, including allegations of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records. Trump’s company and two of his sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., are also defendants. Eric Trump was also in court for closing arguments.

During his argument, Kise contended Trump did nothing wrong and didn’t mislead anyone about his wealth. He said his client “should get a medal” for his business acumen instead of punishment he deemed the “corporate death penalty.”

“This entire case is a manufactured claim to pursue a political agenda,” Kise said.

Since the trial began Oct. 2, Trump has gone to court nine times to observe, testify and complain to TV cameras about the case.

He clashed with Engoron and state lawyers during 3½ hours on the witness stand in November and remains under a limited gag order after making a disparaging and false social media post about the judge’s law clerk.

Thursday’s arguments were part of a busy legal and political stretch for Trump.

On Tuesday, he was in court in Washington, D.C., to watch appeals court arguments over whether he is immune from prosecution on charges that he plotted to overturn the 2020 election—one of four criminal cases against him. Trump has pleaded not guilty.

On Monday, the presidential primary season kicks off with the Iowa caucus.

State lawyers say that by making himself seem richer, Trump qualified for better loan terms from banks, saving him at least $168 million.

Kise acknowledged that some holdings may have been listed “higher by immaterial” amounts, but he added” “there’s plenty of assets that were undervalued by substantial sums.”

Last month, in a ruling denying a defense bid for an early verdict, the judge signaled he’s inclined to find Trump and his co-defendants liable on at least some claims.

“Valuations, as elucidated ad nauseum in this trial, can be based on different criteria analyzed in different ways,” Engoron wrote in the Dec. 18 ruling. “But a lie is still a lie.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Hunter Knew ‘Sugar Brother’ Purchased $875K Art Despite Sham Ethics Deal

Luis Cornelio
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Hunter Knew ‘Sugar Brother’ Purchased $875K Art Despite Sham Ethics Deal

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The identity of one of the top buyers of Hunter Biden’s artwork has been revealed following the testimony of an art dealer. 

Georges Bergès, the owner of Georges Bergès Gallery and chief dealer of Hunter Biden’s paintings, admitted Tuesday that Kevin Morris, the millionaire Hollywood producer, was among the highest buyers of the artwork, paying $875,000 for a piece.

According to Fox News, Bergès revealed that Hunter Biden knew that Morris — also dubbed the first son’s “sugar brother” — made the near million-dollar purchase, contradicting a dubious ethics “system” aimed at curbing potential conflicts of interest.

The so-called ethics “system” consisted of maintaining the anonymity of individuals purchasing the pricey artwork. Under this process, neither the White House nor Hunter Biden would be aware of the buyers’ identities, likely to address concerns that individuals buying artwork might receive special favors from the White House.

Then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki claimed: “Well, I can tell you that after careful consideration, a system has been established that allows for Hunter Biden to work in his profession within reasonable safeguards.”

However, the House Oversight Committee alleged on Monday that this ethics “system” was never discussed with Bergès, one of the initial contacts for art purchases. Bergès reportedly disclosed that he never had conversations with the White House or President Joe Biden regarding this sham “system.”

Morris emerged as a figurehead in the Biden family scandal after the New York Times reported that he bankrolled Hunter Biden out of debt, including a $2 million loan to pay the tax bill triggering federal indictments against Hunter.

In response, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., issued a scathing letter to Morris on Nov. 15. “The Committees have identified you as possessing information relevant to our investigation and seek your testimony regarding these and related topics,” Comer wrote in a three-page letter. 

“Both public reporting and evidence reviewed by the Committees suggest that you have personally lent money to, or otherwise satisfied debts on behalf of, Hunter Biden,” Comer added before requesting Morris’ testimony.

Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali was also revealed as another buyer of Hunter Biden’s artwork. According to the House Oversight Committee, Bergès unsuccessfully tried to persuade Naftali to purchase the artwork in 2021. However, after Joe Biden clinched the White House, she conceded to buying a $42,000 artwork in February of that year. 

In July 2021, Joe Biden tapped Naftali to serve on the influential Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad. Following the presidential appointment, Naftali acquired more art, this time with a $52,000 price tag, as recounted by Bergès.

IG Report: Pentagon Failed to Track More than $1B in Military Gear Given to Ukraine

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IG Report: Pentagon Failed to Track More than $1B in Military Gear Given to Ukraine

(Headline USA) Shortfalls in required monitoring by American officials mean the U.S. cannot track more than $1 billion in weapons and military equipment provided to Ukraine to fight invading Russian forces, according to a Pentagon audit released Thursday.

The findings mean that 59% of $1.7 billion in defense gear that the U.S. has provided Ukraine and was directed to guard against misuse or theft remained “delinquent,” the report by the Defense Department’s office of the inspector-general, the watchdog body for the Pentagon, said.

While Biden administration officials stressed Thursday that there was no evidence the weapons had been stolen, the audit undermines two years of lavish assurances from the administration that rigorous monitoring would keep U.S. military aid given to Ukraine from being misused. That’s despite the country’s longstanding reputation for corruption.

“There remains no credible evidence of illicit diversion of U.S.-provided advanced conventional weapons from Ukraine,” Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters.

Citing what he said was Russian disinformation to the contrary, Ryder added, “The fact is, we observed the Ukrainians employing these capabilities on the battlefield. We’re seeing them use them effectively.”

President Joe Biden is already struggling to win congressional approval for more U.S. military and financial aid to Ukrainian government forces, which are struggling to drive out Russian forces that pushed deeper into the country in February 2022. The audit findings are likely to make Biden’s task even harder.

House Republican opposition for months has stalled Biden’s request to Congress for $105 billion more for Ukraine, Israel and other national security objectives.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that there was no funding left for additional military aid packages to Ukraine.

The U.S. has provided tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine, including big systems such as air defense. The end-use monitoring was required for gear that had sensitive technology and was smaller, making it more vulnerable to arms trafficking.

The Pentagon inspector general’s report said that the Defense Department had failed to maintain an accurate serial-number inventory of those defense articles for Ukraine as required.

Reasons for the shortfall in monitoring included limited staffing; the fact that procedures for carrying out end-use monitoring in a war zone weren’t put in place until December 2022; restrictions on movement for monitors within Ukraine; and a lack of internal controls on inventory, the report said.

While the U.S. had improved monitoring since the first year of the war, “significant personnel limitations and accountability challenges remain,” auditors said; full accounting of the gear was impossible as long as those shortfalls remained, they said.

Kirby said administration officials “has for many months now been interested in improving accountability over the end use of material that is provided to Ukraine.”

The audit didn’t attempt to determine whether any of the assistance had been diverted. It noted the Defense Department inspector-general’s office now had people stationed in Ukraine, and that its criminal investigators were still looking into allegations of criminal misuse of the security assistance.

Defense Department officials told auditors they expected to have systems for improved oversight in place this year and next.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

EBay to Pay $3M for Sending Live Spiders, Cockroaches to Mass. Couple

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EBay to Pay $3M for Sending Live Spiders, Cockroaches to Mass. Couple

(Headline USA) Online retailer eBay Inc. will pay a $3 million fine to resolve criminal charges over a harassment campaign waged by employees who sent live spiders, cockroaches and other disturbing items to the home of a Massachusetts couple, according to court papers filed Thursday.

The Justice Department charged eBay with stalking, witness tampering and obstruction of justice more than three years after the employees were prosecuted in the extensive scheme to intimidate David and Ina Steiner. The couple produced an online newsletter called EcommerceBytes that upset eBay executives with its coverage.

California-headquartered eBay accepted responsibility for the employees’ actions and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement that could result in the charges against the company being dismissed if it complies with certain conditions, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Massachusetts.

“EBay engaged in absolutely horrific, criminal conduct. The company’s employees and contractors involved in this campaign put the victims through pure hell, in a petrifying campaign aimed at silencing their reporting and protecting the eBay brand,” acting Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Josh Levy said in an emailed statement.

The deferred prosecution agreement calls for an independent monitor to oversee the company for three years to ensure its compliance with the terms and federal law. The $3 million criminal penalty was the maximum possible fine under the charges.

Ebay CEO Jamie Iannone called the company’s conduct in 2019 “wrong and reprehensible.”

“Since these events occurred, new leaders have joined the company, and eBay has strengthened its policies, procedures, controls and training,” Iannone said in a statement. “EBay remains committed to upholding high standards of conduct and ethics and to making things right with the Steiners.”

The couple, who served as the newsletter’s publisher and editor, have sued eBay in federal court, describing how cyberstalking and upsetting deliveries of anonymously sent packages upended their lives.

Ina Steiner received harassing and sometimes threatening Twitter messages as well as dozens of strange emails from groups like an irritable bowel syndrome patient support group and the Communist Party of the United States.

Along with a box of live spiders and the cockroaches, the couple had a funeral wreath, a bloody pig mask and a book about surviving the loss of a spouse show up at their door. Their home address also was posted online with announcements inviting strangers to yard sales and parties.

In a statement published on their website Thursday, the Steiners said eBay’s actions had “a damaging and permanent impact” on them “emotionally, psychologically, physically, reputationally, and financially.” They also expressed frustration that more executives were not charged.

“We strongly pushed federal prosecutors for further indictments to deter corporate executives and board members from creating a culture where stalking and harassment is tolerated or encouraged,” they said.

The harassment started in 2019 after Ina Steiner wrote a story about a lawsuit brought by eBay that accused Amazon of poaching its sellers, according to court records.

A half-hour after the article was published, eBay’s then-CEO, Devin Wenig, sent another top executive a message saying: “If you are ever going to take her down … now is the time,” according to court documents.

The executive sent Wenig’s message to James Baugh, who was eBay’s senior director of safety and security, and called Ina Steiner a “biased troll who needs to get BURNED DOWN.”

Baugh was among seven former employees who ultimately pleaded guilty to charges in the case. He was sentenced in 2022 to almost five years in prison. Another former executive, David Harville, was sentenced to two years.

Wenig, who stepped down as CEO in 2019, was not criminally charged in the case and has denied having any knowledge of the harassment campaign or ever telling anyone to do anything illegal.

In the civil case, his lawyers have said the “take her down” quote was taken out of context and the natural inference should be that he was referring to taking “lawful action,” not “a series of bizarre criminal acts.”

The Associated Press sent an email seeking comment on Thursday to a spokesperson for Wenig.

Baugh, whom prosecutors described as the mastermind of the scheme, at one point recruited Harville to go with him to Boston to spy on the Steiners, authorities said.

Baugh, Harville and another eBay employee went to the couple’s home in the hopes of installing a GPS tracker on their car, prosecutors said. The trio found the garage locked, so Harville bought tools with a plan to break in, prosecutors said.

Harville’s attorneys have said he had no involvement in or knowledge about the threatening messages or deliveries sent by his colleagues.

Baugh’s lawyers have said their client faced relentless pressure from Wenig and other executives to do something about the Steiners. Baugh alleged he was then pushed out by the company when “an army of outside lawyers descended to conduct an ‘internal investigation’ aimed at saving the company and its top executives from prosecution.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Wisconsin’s Billionaire-Bought High Court Rejects GOP Request to Halt Gerrymandering

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Wisconsin’s Billionaire-Bought High Court Rejects GOP Request to Halt Gerrymandering

(Headline USA) The leftist-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday refused to reconsider its ruling ordering the drawing of new legislative maps, rejecting a request from Republican lawmakers to put its December order on hold.

Dark-money billionaires converged on the state during the last election cycle with the goal of installing controversial Justice Janet Protasiewicz in order to flip the ideological balance of its majority.

Protasiewicz campaigned on promises to reverse the state’s longstanding pro-life law, gerrymander its legislative districts and give Democrats the advantage in any election challenges arising from the 2024 race after the swing state played an outsize role in helping steal the 2020 race for Joe Biden.

The court ruled 4-3 on Dec. 22 that the current election maps, drawn by Republicans, were unconstitutional and must be redone in time for the November election.

Friday is the deadline for parties in the lawsuit, which includes state lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, to submit new maps.

Consultants hired by the Supreme Court will review those submissions and issue their own report, and perhaps their own maps, by Feb. 1. State elections officials have said maps must be in place by March 15 to be in play for the 2024 election.

Republican lawmakers asked the court to put its ruling on hold, saying they couldn’t make Friday’s deadline to submit maps. They also argued that the court didn’t listen to their arguments in the case and didn’t give them a chance to respond to the deadline for new boundaries.

But the court on Thursday voted 4-3 to reject the request, with the court’s four-justice leftist majority voting to deny it.

The legislative electoral maps drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2011 cemented the party’s majorities, which now stand at 64-35 in the Assembly and a 22-11 supermajority in the Senate.

The court ruled in December that the current boundaries are unconstitutional because they aren’t contiguous. Many districts include sections of land that aren’t connected, resulting in maps that resemble Swiss cheese.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

New York AG Letitia James Repeatedly Visited Biden White House

Molly Bruns
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New York AG Letitia James Repeatedly Visited Biden White House

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Investigators discovered that New York Attorney General Letitia James made several visits to the Biden White House starting in April 2022, raising questions as to whether the president may have colluded in the lawfare attempt to seize millions of dollars worth of private property from his top political rival.

Due to James’s lead role in New York’s partisan witch hunt against former President Donald Trump, the discovery of the visits in the White House visitor logs raised several eyebrows, according to Trending Politics News.

James made three separate visits to the White House: in April of 2022 and July and August of 2023. The purposes for these visits—and whom she visited at the White House—were not disclosed in the logs.

James campaigned in 2018 on the promise of indicting Trump and has made targeting the former president her top priority, while also going after right-wing organizations like the National Rifle Association. However, her overtly partisan rhetoric has sometimes threatened to derail her agenda.

She previously accused the Trump administration of being “too male, too pale, and too stale,” a comment which came back to bite her after inciting investigations and indictments into the former president and his cohort.

In November, Trump said that James was in cahoots with the Biden administration—specifically the Department of Justice—in order to keep him in New York and off of the campaign trail to prepare for the 2024 election.

“I’m stuck here because I have a corrupt attorney general that communicates with the DOJ in Washington to keep me nice and busy, because I’m leading Biden in the polls by a lot,” Trump explained.

“That’s all it is, this is election interference,” he continued. “They made up a fake case; they’re fraudulent people.”

James quickly responded to the comments, accusing Trump of being “offensive,” “foment[ing] violence” and “race-baiting.”

However, the evidence of her collusion with the White House would seem to validate the criticism.

On Thursday, during the final day of Trump’s civil trial, he unleashed a searing critique of James and partisan judge Arthur Engoron, flouting the judge’s earlier denial of permission.

“We have a situation where I am an innocent man,” Trump said, according to the Parkersburg News and Sentinel.

“I’m being persecuted by someone running for office and I think you have to go outside the bounds,” he continued. “… This is a fraud on me. What’s happened here, sir, is a fraud on me.”

James, however, is not the only corrupt prosecutor to have been caught colluding with the White House.

In February 2023, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis attended a five hour meeting in the White House with Vice President Kamala Harris, Breitbart reported recently.

Months later, in August, Georgia indicted Trump, along with 18 others, on racketeering charges for their efforts to challenge the disputed 2020 election outcome.

Willis’s romantic partner and lead prosecutor on the Trump case, Nathan Wade, also met with White House officials at least twice and brazenly billed the Fulton DA’s office at least $2,000 for the meetings.

Willis was previously accused of improperly colluding with U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., when he was overseeing House Democrats’ Jan. 6 Committee to investigate Trump.

Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., signaled their intention to investigate whether the pair violated House rules and disclosure requirements—among other things—in their collaborative witch hunt.

Another Dem. Lawmaker Fantasizes about Trump ‘Erection’

Jacob Bruns
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Another Dem. Lawmaker Fantasizes about Trump ‘Erection’

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) While former President Donald Trump boasts of living “rent free” in the minds of many Trump-deranged Democrats, in the mind of at least one influential House lawmaker, he appears to be earning his keep the hard way.

In an awkward Freudian slip, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., suggested during a hearing on Wednesday that Trump may have “incited an erection,” the Daily Caller reported.

With the word “erection” on the tip of her tongue, Jayapal’s gaffe came as she was responding to Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., who was condemning Hunter Biden for refusing to testify before Congress, suggesting the Biden’s disdain for the law “requires us to act.”

Naturally, the congresswoman turned the subject from the younger Biden’s illicit dealings to the Left’s favorite punching bag: Trump.

In response, Jayapal— noted that she appreciates “the passion from my friend across the aisle and the outrage.”

She then suggested that “we are all outraged about many things,” including the fact that “President Trump incited an erection.”

Recognizing her mistake and laughing about it, she corrected it to “insurrection” and added: “maybe that too.”

In response, Bishop told Jayapal, “you can talk about that too I guess.”

Bishop later reposted the video in a tweet after the bizarre exchange.

“I’ll take “Outrageous Things That Have Happened” for $1000, Alex,” he wrote.

Jayapal’s suggestion that Trump stimulated sexual arousal was not the first time Democrats have used such language to describe the former president’s effect.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D.-N.Y., aroused by the thought of barring Trump from the 2024 ballot, also suggested in 2021 that Trump caused an erection.

“Make no mistake,” Schumer noted, “there will be a trial, and when that trial ends, senators will have to decide if they believe Donald John Trump incited the erection.”

Like Jayapal, Schumer also corrected himself, changing his wording to “insurrection.”

Biden Warned by Lawyers to Stop Hosting Top Donors in Oval Office

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Biden Warned by Lawyers to Stop Hosting Top Donors in Oval Office

(Headline USA) President Joe Biden was warned by the White House Counsel’s office last year to stop inviting his top donors to the Oval Office, according to Axios.

Biden had been regularly giving some of his top Democratic donors access to the White House in the form of Oval Office tours, raising concerns among his lawyers who feared he could be in violation of the Hatch Act. They advised him to stop hosting these tours, which he has done.

The Hatch Act, enacted in 1939, prohibits executive branch employees from using “official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election” and fundraising in federal buildings.

However, Biden continues to meet with his top donors on White House property. He has hosted more than a dozen private lunches and dinners, organized by entertainment mogul and Biden campaign co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg, on the property.

The White House Counsel’s office has not shut down the events, but has restricted the gatherings to the White House map room, the old family dining room and the tennis court pavilion—areas that are not official workspaces.

“There are certain rooms in the White House, particularly in the residence that are not covered under the Hatch Act,” Kedric Payne, ethics director at the Campaign Legal Center, told Axios.

Payne added that although Biden “is allowed to legally meet with and entertain donors at the White House,” there is a fine line he has to respect. “You cannot give campaign contributions or solicit for campaign contributions while in the White House,” he explained.

When asked about the ethical concerns, the White House denied that Biden was in violation of federal election law.

“It is typical for any president, regardless of party, to host supporters at the White House complex, which is both a working office as well as a personal residence,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said. “President Biden and his team take all rules concerning the White House and re-elections seriously, and we’re proud of that.”

Former President Bill Clinton notoriously caused scandal by hosting top political donors for overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom.

Trump Ultimatum: Biden Could Face Indictment Under ‘New President’

Jacob Bruns
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Trump Ultimatum: Biden Could Face Indictment Under ‘New President’

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) As the political establishment maneuvers to try to keep him off the ballot, former president Donald Trump hinted in a recent Truth Social video that current President Joe Biden could face legal scrutiny by his successor, the Conservative Brief reported.

The video, posted on Monday, came a day before Trump’s appearance in a Washington, D.C. federal court where he sought to argue that his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, Save America Rally and other efforts to challenge the disputed 2021 election fell under the scope of his presidential duties—thus qualifying for immunity from prosecution.

While Trump said there was a valid national interest in his efforts to uncover vote fraud, no such national interest lay in the multiple “insurrections” committed by Biden and his fellow Democrats, who have actively disregarded the rule of law rather than uphold it in the Afghanistan withdrawal, open border and a series of personal scandals involving Biden family corruption.

Trump further suggested that the Justice Department has been weaponized under Biden’s rule for his personal political ends, namely, defeating and demoralizing his opponents.

“[Biden] told his DOJ to do it, ‘Go indict him.’ Because he’s losing badly in the polls—so badly that he figures this is the only way he can win,” Trump said. “The only problem is that thus far, it’s pushed us way up in the polls because people see it’s a scam.”

According to the former president, such actions are unfit for the Oval Office, and more at home in “Third-World countries or banana republics.”

Trump is currently facing 91 criminal indictments at the behest of the weaponized DOJ.

But the former president also noted that Biden should “be careful” of the precedent that he sets, “because that can happen to him also.”

Biden, he suggested, should worry about “the next president” moving swiftly to hold corrupt officials accountable before they reach the six-year statute of limitations.

“You have to be very careful. We have to guard and protect our country. We have to do what’s right for our country,” Trump noted, adding that “you don’t indict your political opponent.”

Trump made his argument in light of the United States Supreme Court’s announcement that it will hear his appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to bar him from the ballot, using the 14th amendment as justification.

The state court decided to bar Trump from the ballot despite the fact that he has never been charged with, nor convicted of, engaging in an insurrection. He was even acquitted by the U.S. Senate following a partisan effort to impeach him over the Jan. 6, 2021 rally.

House Democrat Joins Calls For Defense Sec. Austin to Resign

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House Democrat Joins Calls For Defense Sec. Austin to Resign

(Headline USA) A House Democrat joined calls for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to resign over his failure to inform the Biden administration about his week-long emergency hospitalization. 

Reports this weekend revealed Austin had been in the intensive-care unit at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for several days following a procedure related to his treatment for prostate cancer. He failed to inform the White House of his condition, with his staff instead telling officials that Austin was “working from home” for the week.

Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said Austin’s “lack of transparency” is reason enough for the Defense secretary to step down.

“I have lost trust in Secretary Lloyd Austin’s leadership of the Defense Department due to the lack of transparency about his recent medical treatment and its impact on the continuity of the chain of command,” Deluzio said in a statement.

“I have a solemn duty in Congress to conduct oversight of the Defense Department through my service on the House Armed Services Committee,” he added. “That duty today requires me to call on Secretary Austin to resign.”

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also criticized Austin but stopped short of calling for his resignation.

“I remain concerned that vital chain of command and notification procedures were not followed while the Secretary was under medical care,” Reed said in a statement.

Austin “is taking responsibility for the situation, but this was a serious incident and there needs to be transparency and accountability from the Department,” Reed added. “This lack of disclosure must never happen again.”

Despite these concerns, the White House said this week that President Joe Biden has no intention of firing Austin.

“There is no—no plans for anything other than for Secretary Austin to stay in the job and continuing the leadership that … he’s been demonstrating,” national security spokesperson John Kirby confirmed to reporters.

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