Chris Christie Ducks Out of GOP Primary, Capping Off Sad Career

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Chris Christie suspended his long-shot bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday, bringing an end to a tumultuous political career that included two infamous terms as New Jersey governor and two unsuccessful presidential bids. 

In a speech delivered in New Hampshire, Christie acknowledged the harsh reality that Republican voters did not resonate with his 2024 vision, which obsessively centered around anti-Donald Trump remarks and appearances on CNN. 

“I would rather lose by telling the truth than lie in order to win,” Christie said. “It’s clear to me tonight that there isn’t a path for me to win the nomination, which is why I’m suspending my campaign tonight.” 

Trump, the presumed Republican nominee, largely dismissed Christie’s exit, shifting the focus to a hot mic incident where the former New Jersey governor criticized former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump remarked, “I hear Chris Christie is dropping out of the race today — I might even get to like him again! Anyway, he was just caught on a hot mic making a very truthful statement: ‘She’s gonna get smoked…You and I both know it, she’s not up to this.’”

Christie first ran for president in 2015, facing the powerful force of the Trump campaign. Ultimately, Christie withdrew when it became apparent that there was no viable path to victory, choosing instead to endorse Trump. 

After Trump secured the presidential nomination and won the 2016 election, Christie became a closer ally and served on the 2016 transition team. However, reports alleged that tensions arose when Trump passed over him for the attorney general nomination and declined other cabinet posts. 

His relationship with Trump completely soured after the contentious 2020 presidential election, with Trump claiming the results were stolen and Christie dismissing the allegations as conspiratorial. 

However, as Trump aimed for a third White House run, Christie, for reasons that remain unclear, believed he could prevent the highly popular former president from securing the Republican nomination in 2024.

Voters and consistent negative polls proved Christie wrong. Almost no polls positioned Christie close to the leading candidacy of Trump. In fact, he rarely approached Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or Haley, presumed to be the second and third contenders for the nomination. 

Several Republican commentators flooded Twitter with mocking posts and images poking fun at Christie’s departure.

Fauci Admits ‘Social Distancing’ Not Scientific, Lab Leak Isn’t Conspiracy Theory

(Headline USA) Former COVID czar Anthony Fauci reportedly admitted during congressional testimony Tuesday that his social-distancing guidelines were not based on scientific data and that the COVID-19 lab leak theory is not a “conspiracy theory.”

Fauci appeared before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Tuesday and was grilled by lawmakers on his handling of the pandemic under both the Trump and Biden administrations.

When pressed on why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released guidance in the early months of the pandemic urging people to remain “six feet apart,” Fauci admitted that this policy was “likely not based on scientific data.”

Rather, the social-distancing guideline “sort of just appeared,” Fauci said, according to Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, who chairs the committee.

Wenstrup said Fauci also acknowledged the legitimacy of the theory that COVID-19 escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China, and the likelihood that his decision to encourage vaccine mandates “could increase vaccine hesitancy in the future.”

However, Wenstrup noted Fauci continued to “play semantics with the definition of a ‘lab-leak’” in an effort to cover up his own role downplaying the lab-leak theory.

Fauci’s testimony “revealed systemic failures in our public health system and shed light on serious procedural concerns with our public health authority,” Wenstrup said in a statement afterward.

Wenstrup also suggested Fauci’s testimony was not as productive as it could have been, saying his committee remained “frustrated with Dr. Fauci’s inability to recollect COVID-19 information that is important for our investigation,” while others interviewed “do recall the facts.”

Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, who sits on the panel, confirmed Fauci’s supposed short-term memory, saying the recently retired director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases showed an “amazing ability to either forget what happened or then to find ways to shirk any sort of responsibility for the influence that was had.”

Epstein Victim Speaks Out about Sex Tapes w/ Clinton, Others

(Headline USA) A victim of convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein who alleged there were sex tapes of high-profile figures abusing minor girls while visiting Epstein’s private island, according to new documents released this week, spoke publicly about the claim, reaffirming it after having previously recanted it under duress.

Sarah Ransome was one of several girls trafficked by Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. In a string of 2016 emails to a former New York Post columnist, Ransome alleged she had copies of tapes Epstein had made of some of his elite friends—including former President Bill Clinton, Britain’s Prince Andrew, and billionaire business magnate Richard Branson—having sex with an unidentified woman.

Ransome claimed the unidentified woman in the tapes allegedly had also maintained a questionable “friendship” with Donald Trump, prior to his term as president.

“Mr. Trump definitely seemed to have a thing for her and she told me how he kept going on about how he liked her ‘pert nipples,’” Ransome wrote in one email, according to the documents. “I also know she had sexual relations with Trump at Jeffery’s NY mansion on regular occasions.”

However, in a later email, Ransome retracted the allegations, saying, “I would like to retract everything I have said to you and walk away from this.”

She added that “only bad things” and “pain for my family” would come from going public with her accusations against Epstein and the others involved.

A few years later, in 2019, Ransome told the New Yorker that she “invented the tapes to draw attention to Epstein’s behavior.”

But now, Ransome is once again insisting that such tapes do exist, telling Good Morning Britain on Tuesday that it is “no secret” Epstein kept a file for blackmail purposes.

“There are videos that exist. The people that know they exist, I’m sure are very frightened of them being released,” she said.

“It’s no secret that everything was recorded,” she continued. “Multiple victims have come forward confirming my account along with others. I have also seen recordings in his office.”

Ransome explained that the only reason she withdrew her allegations several years ago was because she was still involved with Epstein and Maxwell and was told “that if I ever did come forward, myself and my family would be harmed.”

Martin Scorsese Makes New Film about Jesus to Remove Negative Associations w/ Religion

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) Academy Award-winning Hollywood director Martin Scorsese said that his new film about Jesus Christ will radically change public opinion on organized religion.

Last year, the movie, which is based on Japanese novelist Shūsaku Endō’s book “A Life of Jesus,” was announced and scheduled to start filming later in 2024, according to the Daily Wire. It was also reported that the screenplay for the movie is finished and that the movie itself will have an estimated run time of 80 minutes.

Scorsese discussed his goals for the project during a Los Angeles Times profile that was published on Jan. 8, 2024.

“I’m trying to find a new way to make it more accessible and take away the negative onus of what has been associated with organized religion. Right now, ‘religion,’ you say that word and everyone is up in arms because it’s failed in so many ways. You may reject it. But it might make a difference in how you live your life — even in rejecting it. Don’t dismiss it offhand,” Scorsese said.

Scorsese said that he decided to make the movie after meeting with Pope Francis in May 2023.

“I have responded to the Pope’s appeal to artists in the only way I know how: by imagining and writing a screenplay for a film about Jesus,” he said back then.

However, a Christian movie viewer should not be very hopeful about the upcoming movie, considering that the director previously made the movie about Jesus, The Last Temptation of Christ,” which was released in 1988 and became very controversial due to its blasphemous nature.

For example, Eternal World Television Network founder Mother Angelica called the movie “sacrilegious” for its storyline, which depicted Jesus – the perfect, sinless Son of God — as a mortal sinner just like any other human being. One of the infamous examples of that is one of the scenes, in which Jesus (played by Willem Dafoe) fantasizes about having sex with Mary Magdalene.

Even though Scorsese tried to defend himself by providing a disclaimer in his movie that said that the film is “not based on the Gospels, but upon the fictional exploration of the eternal spiritual conflict,” it didn’t stop faithful Christians from expressing their righteous anger by boycotting the movie.

The book on which the upcoming movie is based also twisted the true nature of Jesus by presenting only his soft, “motherly side” since Japanese people would be more open to that due to fathers in their culture being stern and harsh.

The Epoch Times Holds Screening of J6 Doc. at U.S. Capitol

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) On Jan. 9, 2024, the conservative outlet the Epoch Times hosted a screening of its new exclusive documentary about Jan. 6, 2021, at the place where the events happened — the U.S. Capitol.

The documentary, “The Real Story of Jan. 6 Part 2: The Long Road Home,” was released on the anniversary of the “Stop the Steal” rally, according to the news source. The documentary is currently available online for the Times subscribers.

The new documentary is a sequel to “The Real Story of Jan. 6,” the Times’s most popular documentary that was made publicly available on Twitter on Jan. 4, 2024. As of Jan. 10, 2024, it has been viewed by over 15 million people.

The Times’s senior investigative journalist Joe Hanneman researched and narrated both of the documentaries.

The original documentary explored the events of Jan. 6, 2021, itself — including mysterious and unpunished deaths, misconduct by U.S. Capitol Police and the possibility of law enforcement actors agitating events that day — according to the news source. The sequel, however, focuses on how the aftershocks of that day have changed America.

The screening which was hosted by Sen. Ron Johnson, R–Wis., was open to both the public and lawmakers.

“We haven’t even begun to be told the full story, which means the truth about January 6. They always say ‘To the victor, go the spoils.’ The victor writes the history. And unfortunately, in November 2020, Democrats had the full suite. They’re the ones that had power, and they wrote the history of January 6,” Johnson said.

He then added that there are many unanswered questions when it comes to what happened back then and thanked the news source for making the documentary.

“I just have to thank Epoch Times for being those journalists that are utilizing our First Amendment rights to freedom of the press, freedom of speech, being the honest broker in terms of trying to expose and tell the American people the truth. And all I could ask of anybody here in the audience or listening in a later video tape is please try and find out what the truth is, discern it. Look up sites like Epoch Times, subscribe,” Johnson said.

Judge Denies Trump Requests to Give Closing Speech, Delay for Mother-in-Law’s Death

(Headline USA) A far-left, Trump-deranged judge denied the former president two final requests on the cusp of ending a trial that is almost certain to be appealed on the grounds of mistrial.

Donald Trump had expected to deliver the closing argument himself in his New York civil business fraud trial.

However, judge Arthur Engoron rescinded permission n Wednesday after Trump’s lawyers objected to the judge’s insistence that the defendant stick to “relevant” matters.

Trump attorney Alina Habba responded: “Is anyone surprised anymore?”

Engoron’s subjective opinions have been a major factor throughout the trial, starting with his unilateral finding that Trump had defrauded lenders even though the lenders themselves begged to differ, and his decision to undercut the value of Trump’s property holdings, including Mar-a-Lago, using his own measures rather than their market value.

Engoron also arbitrarily imposed a gag order on Trump, a highly unorthodox move for a civil trial considering the purpose generally is to prevent the undue influence of a criminal-trial jury. In this case, it was done in reaction to Trump’s criticism of the prima-donna judge himself and his radical leftist staff.

If the judge’s ruling on Thursday were to stand, it could potentially cost Trump hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties and strip him of his ability to do business in New York.

The lawsuit, brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, claims that Trump’s net worth was inflated by billions of dollars on financial statements that helped him secure business loans and insurance.

The former president and current Republican 2024 front-runner denies any wrongdoing, and he has lambasted the case as a “hoax” and a political attack on him. James and the judge are Democrats.

It’s extremely uncommon for people who have lawyers to give their own closing arguments. But Trump’s lawyers had signaled privately to the judge last week that the ex-president planned to deliver a summation personally, in addition to arguments from his legal team.

In an email exchange that happened over recent days and was filed in court Wednesday, Engoron initially approved the request, saying he was “inclined to let everyone have his or her say.”

But he said Trump would have to limit his remarks to the boundaries that cover attorneys’ closing arguments: “commentary on the relevant, material facts that are in evidence, and application of the relevant law to those facts.”

He would not be allowed to introduce new evidence, “comment on irrelevant matters” or “deliver a campaign speech”—or impugn the judge, his staff, the attorney general, her lawyers or the court system, the judge wrote.

Trump attorney Christopher Kise responded that those limitations were “fraught with ambiguities, creating the substantial likelihood for misinterpretation or an unintended violation.”

Engoron said that they were ”reasonable, normal limits” and would allow for comments on the attorney general’s arguments but not personal attacks.

Kise termed the restrictions “very unfair.”

“You are not allowing President Trump, who has been wrongfully demeaned and belittled by an out of control, politically motivated attorney general, to speak about the things that must be spoken about,” the attorney wrote.

“I won’t debate this yet again. Take it or leave it,” the judge shot back, with an all-caps addition: “I will not grant any further extensions.”

After not hearing from Trump’s lawyers by a noon Wednesday deadline, Engoron wrote that he assumed Trump was not agreeing to the ground rules and therefore would not be speaking.

Earlier in the exchange, the judge also denied Kise’s request to postpone closing arguments until Jan. 29 because of the death Tuesday of Trump’s mother-in-law, Amalija Knavs.

The judge expressed condolences but said he was sticking to the scheduled date, citing the security and logistics required for Trump’s planned visit to court.

During the recent email exchange about Trump’s potential summation, Engoron warned Trump’s lawyers that if the former president violated the gag order, he’d be removed from the courtroom and fined at least $50,000.

Trump testified in the case in November, sparring verbally with the judge and state lawyers as he defended himself and his real estate empire. He considered a second round of testimony, during the portion of the trial when his own lawyers were calling witnesses. After teasing his return appearance, he changed course and said he had “nothing more to say.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

House Committees Vote to Hold Hunter Biden in Contempt

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The House Judiciary and Oversight committees both voted to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress on Wednesday following two separate marathon hearings on the matter.

“Mr. Biden has violated federal law, and must be held in contempt of Congress,” the resolution said, explaining that Hunter’s testimony is crucial to discerning whether his father committed any crimes while serving as Vice President or President.

The two committee voted along party lines to hold Hunter in contempt for disobeying a congressional subpoena last month. The action sets up a House vote on recommending criminal charges against a member of President Joe Biden’s family as the GOP moves into the final stages of an impeachment inquiry into the president himself.

If the House votes to hold Hunter Biden in contempt, it will be up to the Justice Department, specifically the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, to decide whether to prosecute.

It’s the latest step for the inquiry, which began in September.

Hunter Biden has defended his lack of compliance with the GOP-issued subpoena on the grounds that information from private interviews can be selectively leaked and manipulated by House Republicans. He has insisted that he would only testify in public.

The Oversight hearing was the longer and more eventful of the two committee meetings, with Hunter making a surprise appearance.

One Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, R-SC, insisted that Hunter be quickly arrested, while Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called him a coward as he left during her remarks.

Later in the hearing, Greene presented pornographic images of Hunter to argue that he violated the Mann Act by transporting prostitutes across the country.

After he left the committee meeting, Hunter’s only remarks to reporters were when asked why he had his father on speaker phone several times during business meetings. “If he called you, would you answer the phone?” he responded.

If the contempt referral against Hunter Biden passes the full House it would be yet another challenge for federal prosecutors already under heavy scrutiny for their handling of charges against him related to his taxes and gun use.

Shelving the contempt of Congress charges would likely further stoke conservative criticism that the DOJ is politicized—especially given that two one-time advisers to former President Donald Trump were prosecuted for contempt of Congress by the Biden administration.

The committees’ votes Wednesday on contempt of Congress come a day before Hunter Biden is scheduled to make his first court appearance on tax charges filed by a special counsel in Los Angeles. He is facing three felony and six misdemeanor counts, including filing a false return, tax evasion, failure to file and failure to pay.

His lawyer has accused David Weiss, the special counsel overseeing the yearslong case, of “bowing to Republican pressure” by bringing the charges.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

Hot Mic Catches Journalist Joking about JFK, Trump Assassinations

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) As members of the press waited for former President Donald Trump to arrive to the federal appeals court for one of his ongoing trials, they were caught by a hot mic speculating and joking about possible ways for Trump to be assassinated, Medialite reported.

The conversation between two unidentified journalists took place outside the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C., as they awaited Trump’s arrival at the arguments over whether he qualified for presidential immunity in the case brought by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith.

While the case itself hinges on questions of whether Trump was party to an “insurrection” in his efforts to challenge the dubious outcome of the 2020 election, the leftist media appeared themselves to be pondering their own form of seditious election-meddling.

“I mean, if he’s driving, we’ve got a good shot!” one remarked.

This speculation led to jokes about Trump being assassinated in the same way as former President John F. Kennedy, driving up in a convertible car, or with the window open.

One of the journalists even suggested that one of Trump’s advisors should tell him to take a car that will expose him to easier assassination attempts.

“You should take a convertible! It’s so nice out!” he joked.

Kennedy’s death, 60 years ago last November, is widely believed to have been a political conspiracy orchestrated by members of the deep state, although the precise reasons remain a source of speculation—ranging from his reckless love life and Mafia ties, to his reluctance to send troops into Vietnam, to his opposition in Israel’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

With Trump surpassing incumbent President Joe Biden in the polls to become the frontrunner in the 2024 race, leftist rhetoric has become increasingly unhinged and violent. Several outlets have baselessly declared Trump to be a dictator, and Biden himself has likened his Republican rival to Hitler on multiple occasions.

Meanwhile, Democrats are hoping to capitalize on their lawfare attack against Trump—in which they are seeking to secure democracy by making him ineligible to run—as a sort of catch-22: Either they get their desired outcome or use the legal loss as a justification for violence.

One Democratic congressman, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., openly suggested that if a Supreme Court ruling allows Trump to remain on the ballot and he prevails in the election, Biden should lead an insurrection.

In a recent podcast appearance with Revolver’s Darren Beattie, Trump primary rival Vivek Ramaswamy said that the Left had no interest in letting Trump get anywhere near the White House again, and would go to great lengths to stop him.

“Are you suggesting the possibility of a JFK-type situation?” Beattie asked Ramaswamy.

“I’m just following the facts,” Ramaswamy said. “I’m worried that these people, the system will not let Donald Trump get anywhere near the White House.”

Trump is not the only candidate to express credible fears of a possible Biden-initiated assassination attempt.

Kennedy’s eldest nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who began running as a Democrat before switching to independent, has relayed similar concerns after thrice being denied a request for Secret Service protection.

In one of several eerie parallels to the 1968 election, Kennedy’s own father was assassinated in June of that year by a Palestinian radical after upsetting the Democrat frontrunner, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, in the California primary.

Incumbent President Lyndon Johnson, who had taken over for JFK and served one term of his own, dropped out that March, citing his growing unpopularity and advancing age. (Biden has eclipsed him in both categories.)

As in 1968, Democrats are expecting to hold their convention this year in Chicago, where there are likely to be widespread protests and bedlam once again.

Republican Richard Nixon—who had been defeated by Kennedy in the 1960 race by a razor-thin margin amid rampant speculation about vote fraud—went on to win the 1968 election.

Headline USA’s Ben Sellers contributed to this report. 

MTG Displays More Hunter Biden Porn at Contempt Hearing

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) After Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., displayed pornographic photos of Hunter Biden seemingly participating in sexual acts with prostitutes at a congressional hearing last July, the President’s son responded by filing a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics.

Nevertheless, she persisted. At Hunter’s contempt of Congress hearing Wednesday at the House Oversight Committee, Greene again showed pornographic photos of him—arguing that the photos show how he violated the Mann Act, which is a roughly 113-year-old law that criminalizes the transportation of “any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose.”

“This is evidence of Mann Act and human trafficking violations that we had questions for the President’s son about,” Greene said. “And there’s evidence of payments. These are payments made from Hunter Biden and his law firm to his ‘assistants,’ which were in fact prostitutes.”

Greene also displayed several suspicious activity reports, or SARs, which banks must file when their clients engage in transactions that appear possibly criminal.  One of the SARs related to Biden questioned whether he was using his law firm’s funds to purchase prostitutes.

For instance, when Hunter paid at least two young women in 2018, a bank issued a SAR that stated, “Each appear to be in the adult entertainment industry and we are receiving payments from HUNTER and OWASCO PC.

“It is unclear what relationship HUNTER or OWASCO PC have with these individuals, and based on public media it appears possible the payments may be associated to prostitution or adult entertainment services,” the SAR said.

According to the SAR, one of the women paid by Hunter was a social media that received six “quick pays” for $6,250 from him.

Along with the photos, Greene has presented evidence that Biden paid a purchased a plane ticket for a prostitute to fly from Los Angeles to Washington DC on June 14, 2018. Biden allegedly wrote off this purchase on his taxes as a business expense for his law firm, Owasco P.C.

Greene’s presentation drew howls from Democrats.

“This is not the Jerry Springer show. It’s the United States House of Representatives,” said ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md.

The hearing was still ongoing as of the publication of this article.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

MAGA Nation Expresses Sympathy at Passing of Trump’s Mother-in-Law, Amalija Knavs

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Former first lady Melania Trump announced the death of her mother, Amalija Kanvs, after she spent several weeks in the hospital fighting an unidentified illness.

She called her a “beloved mother… who always carried herself with grace, warmth, and dignity” in a tweet just before 9 p.m. Tuesday night.

“We will miss her beyond measure and continue to honor and love her legacy,” the former first lady added.

Former President Donald Trump had announced that his mother-in-law was “seriously ill” at a New Year’s Eve party in Palm Beach, Florida, and Melania assisted her in the hospital through Christmas and New Year’s festivities, according to the Gateway Pundit.

Melania Trump received thousands of responses of condolence on her feed, with many of her followers offering their prayers for the family and wishing a peaceful rest for her deceased mother.

“Jeff and I are the entire family send our condolences to you as you mourn the devastating loss of your mother,” said Kari Lake, former Arizona gubernatorial candidate and current senatorial candidate, who has maintained a close relationship with the Trumps.

“It was just a pleasure to meet her and see in her eyes how much she loved and adored you,” Lake added. “And what an incredible daughter you have been… May God comfort you in these difficult days ahead.”

Former Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon also offered her condolences.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “Parents are extremely precious and the loss is great.”

“Mrs. Trump was an incredible First Lady who carried herself with impeccable poise, character, and love—values that her mother undoubtedly passed down,” said Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla. “May Amalija’s legacy live on through all those who knew and loved her.”

Former President Trump posted a pair of tributes to his mother-in-law on his platform, Truth Social.

“This is a very sad night for the entire Trump family!!!” he said in a post. “Melania’s great and beautiful mother, Amalija, has just gone to a beautiful place in the sky. She was an incredible woman, and will be missed far beyond words!”

He also posted a photo of himself and Knavs at a formal event in what looks to be the White House.

Scores of other everyday supporters weighed in with their own expressions of sympathy, although, sadly, leftist anti-Trump trolls also took the opportunity to spread their vitriol, with some telling Trump they couldn’t wait until he joined Knavs.

Threats against Trump have been a growing concern recently, with several Democrat lawmakers and members of the media throwing out vague references to a political assassination as it becomes increasingly clear that he will be the frontrunner in a rematch against incumbent President Joe Biden.