Fetterman Blasts Newsom for Running Shadow Presidential Campaign

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Fetterman Blasts Newsom for Running Shadow Presidential Campaign

(Headline USA) Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., blasted California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a fellow Democrat, over the weekend for running a “shadow” presidential campaign.

Fetterman made the comments at an Iowa Democratic Party fundraiser, according to NBC News.

He argued Democrats needed to rally behind President Joe Biden in 2024, warning that any primary bid against Biden would only help former President Donald Trump, who is widely expected to win the Republican nomination.

“Let me say something that might be uncomfortable,” Fetterman said. “There are two additional Democrats running for Pennsylvania—excuse me, running for president right now,” Fetterman said. “One is a congressman from Minnesota, the other one is the governor of California, but only one has the guts to announce it.”

Fetterman was referring to Newsom and Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., who launched a primary bid against Biden last month, citing Biden’s age and poor approval ratings.

“This is about how people feel,” Phillips said last month. “It’s about how people feel—people want to turn the page, I think that’s fair to say.” 

Fetterman argued that even criticizing Biden is a step too far.

“If you are a Democrat that wants to criticize and go after Joe Biden, our president, just go ahead and write a check for Trump,” Fetterman reportedly said, according to NBC News.

Despite longstanding concerns that Fetterman may have suffered lasting brain damage as the result of a 2022 stroke that left some of his cognitive functions impaired, the outspoken progresive appears of late to have developed an outsize share of common sense befitting his 6-foot, 8-inch frame.

The Pennsylvania lawmaker has made headlines in recent weeks for coming out against his fellow Democrats on a number of issues.

He has blasted the leftist “Squad,” for example, over their opposition to Israel in its war against Hamas, and introduced a resolution last week that would ban Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., from receiving classified briefings after Menendez was indicted on bribery charges.

He also reportedly went after Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., at the Iowa fundraiser over Manchin’s proposal to implement a formal dress code in the Senate.

At first I was really kind of angry [at him],” Fetterman said about Manchin. “And then I realized, well, he’s not going to be around much longer, and I’m going to get his parking space.”

Manchin, a former West Virginia governor, is likely to face the current office holder, Gov. Jim Justice, whom he once endorsed, in next year’s Senate race, although Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., is also among the political hopefuls running in the closely watched race to unseat the notorious centrist.

Biden Caught Lying about Amtrak Story for the 12th Time

Luis Cornelio
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Biden Caught Lying about Amtrak Story for the 12th Time

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) President Joe Biden faced scrutiny on Monday after recounting a fabricated Amtrak conductor incident where he was supposedly hailed with the words, “Joey, baby!”  

Despite never experiencing such an event, Biden reiterated his claim during a Delaware-based event, adding to the tally of his 12 known false claims since assuming the presidency, as reported by the New York Post.

Biden’s tale centered around his purported interaction with the Amtrak conductor, Angelo, during his vice presidency from 2009 to 2017. 

“When I was vice president, I flew over a million miles on Air Force Two, but I traveled further than that on Amtrak over the year. I was coming home to see my mom,” Biden began. 

“And I got on the train on a Friday, and I won’t get him [the Amtrak conductor] into complete trouble, I’ll just tell you his first name, but I’ll just tell you his first name. He was No. 2 in seniority at the time, Angelo,” Biden narrated, before emphasizing the conductor’s fabricated actions. 

“And Ang came up to me as I was walking in, and he said, ‘Joey!’ and he grabbed my cheek, and he said, ‘Joey, Baby!’” Biden added. 

Further into the speech, Biden continued to embellish his Amtrak travels.

“And I said, ‘What’s it mean, Ang?’ And he said … you know how many miles you traveled on Amtrak?’ I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘A million … [and] 320,000 miles.’ And I said, ‘How do you figure that?’ And he said, ‘Well, 180 days a year, almost 300 miles a day, 36 years,’” Biden declared, as detailed by the Post.

The fact check, first published by CNN’s Daniel Dale on June 30, 2021, revealed that Biden didn’t reach the one-million-mile mark aboard Air Force Two until September 2015, while the conductor in question, Angelo Negri, retired in 1993 and passed away in May 2014, rendering the purported interaction impossible.

“Biden was friends with the Amtrak conductor at the center of the story, Angelo Negri,” Dale reported. “But Negri had been dead for more than a year – and had been retired for more than two decades – before the earliest moment they could conceivably have had the supposed conversation Biden keeps describing.”

California Has Spent $4M of Taxpayer Money on Trans Treatments for Inmates

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California Has Spent $4M of Taxpayer Money on Trans Treatments for Inmates

(Headline USA) California has spent $4 million of taxpayer money on “gender-affirming” enhancements for convicts in the state’s prison system, including four on death row, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

At least 157 inmates have received taxpayer-funded sex-change treatments, including vaginoplasties, breast enhancements, laser hair removal and facial feminization. The state has spent $2.5 million on these procedures alone since 2017, documents show.

Thirty-five male prisoners have undergone taxpayer-funded vaginoplasties; 11 male prisoners have received breast implants; and two male inmates have received facial feminization surgeries. Sixty-nine male inmates have gotten laser hair removal, and 40 female prisoners have had double mastectomies.

California’s corrections department also admitted it does not place any limits on the kinds of prisoners who can request “gender-affirming” enhancements. As of early this summer, the department had received nearly 1,000 petitions for “gender-affirming” surgeries, agency records show.

Agency officials reportedly requested nearly $2.2 million in new funds just for transgender care, according to budget documents. Part of those funds would go toward the hiring of a part-time surgeon.

The California policy is due in part to a 2015 court decision ordering the state to provide transgender inmate Jeffrey Bryan Norsworthy, a biological male, with sex reassignment surgery.

U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco ruled that denying the procedure to Norsworthy, who was convicted of murder, violated the prisoner’s rights.

“The weight of the evidence demonstrates that for Norsworthy, the only adequate medical treatment for her [sic] gender dysphoria is [sex-reassignment surgery],” Tigar wrote at the time.

In 2014, 131 California inmates identified as transgender. Now, at least 1,847 inmates identify as transgender.

Hundreds of these inmates, almost all biological men, have also requested to be transferred to facilities that align with their new gender identity.

At least four inmates have been transferred to women’s facilities since 2021, thanks to a law signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom that requires transgender inmates to be housed in their chosen facility.

Comer Teases ‘Dozens of Subpoenas’ to Biden Family Members in Coming Weeks

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Comer Teases ‘Dozens of Subpoenas’ to Biden Family Members in Coming Weeks

(Headline USA) House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., revealed he plans to issue dozens of subpoenas to members of the Biden family—including one, potentially, this week, as Republicans ramp up their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Comer said on Sunday that a lot of new documents set to be released this week will prove Biden knew of his family’s influence-peddling scheme. 

“We’re waiting on a few more documents to come in that we’ve successfully subpoenaed, but it’s taking forever,” Comer said.

“I don’t think the average person can imagine how many different checking accounts the president’s son had,” he continued. “… Once all those come in, I think you’re going to see swift action on Bidens, and I would predict somewhere around two dozen subpoenas in the very near future.”

Comer also said the Oversight Committee has gathered enough evidence from Biden family bank accounts to prove the Bidens laundered money.

The scheme was “a very organized criminal enterprise by the Biden family,” he said.

“This wasn’t just some drug addict, you know, doing concoctions and making wild transactions,” he added. “This was very organized. And the reason they did these complicated transactions was to disguise the source of the revenue and to deceive the IRS from paying taxes.”

Bank documents published by the House Oversight Committee last week showed Joe Biden received $40,000 from his brother’s wife shortly after a Chinese energy company sent money to the Biden family, including $400,000 to Hunter Biden.

The check to Joe Biden claimed it was a “loan repayment.” However, Republicans argued it was the 10% check intended for the “big guy”—a reference to an email from Hunter Biden’s laptop.

Comer also said House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, plans to bring in special counsel David Weiss, who is investigating Hunter Biden, for a deposition.

Gov’t Informant Who Spied on Fast-and-Furious Reporter Turns up Dead

Ken Silva
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Gov’t Informant Who Spied on Fast-and-Furious Reporter Turns up Dead

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) An undercover informant who admitted to spying on CBS journalist Sharyl Attkisson died before he could provide more information about the U.S. government’s nefarious activities for her lawsuit over the matter.

Attkisson—who had her computers hacked by federal agents in retaliation for her numerous stories about the Obama-era Operation Fast and Furious scandal—revealed the death of the informant, Ryan White, on Monday.

Attkisson sued White and numerous other government mad actors in January 2020, alleging a conspiracy to target her family when she was working on the “Fast and Furious” stories more than 10 years ago. “Fast and Furious” was an operation overseen by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, in which the government purposely allowed firearms dealers to sell marked weapons illegally with the goal of tracking them to Mexican drug cartels.

Initially, White, who is a convicted felon, denied the charges and filed a motion to dismiss—claiming that Attkisson threatened to “doxx” him if he didn’t agree to a “secret settlement/confession.”

Then, White reversed his position.

“I do not want this case dismissed. This is an important case that will reveal deliberate and horrible crimes committed not only against Ms. Attkisson and her family, but against The United States, its Citizens and many others,” White said in a September 2020 letter to a federal judge.

“I look forward to the discovery process, there is a great deal that must be uncovered/shared. However, I and my family, will not be manipulated, intimidated, or threatened by any party, as has already happened on several occasions,” White said, not elaborating on the alleged threats.

After that, White worked with Attkisson’s lawyers, according to her amended complaint filed in April 2021.

According to Attkisson’s lawyers, White admitted that he worked with a team of government agents tasked with surveillance of the “Fast and Furious” project.

“White worked as an undercover informant for the Department of Justice and as a contractor operating out of the Baltimore Field Office under a group supervised by Rod Rosenstein,” Attkisson’s lawsuit said.

“White likewise reported that he was personally present with Defendant BRIDGES on “many occasions” when they were ‘accessing Attkisson’s computers’ and ‘retrieving information already accessed or manipulated’ and ‘erasing information’ or ‘passing the information on’ to contacts at the DOJ and FBI,” her lawsuit said.

But then, White seemingly disappeared.

Attkisson said attempts to reach him were unsuccessful. She sought a default judgment against him, which a federal judge granted in December 2021.

According to an online obituary, White died in May of this year. The obituary does not state a cause of death.

“Which of course means he can’t provide more details of the operation,” Attkisson lamented Monday on Twitter. “And the historic clerk’s default I received against him in my lawsuit—the first known such decision in a case of govt. spying on a journalist—pretty much will go nowhere.”

Attkisson’s lawsuit remains ongoing.

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

Top Obama Adviser Calls on Biden to Step Aside Following Abysmal Poll Numbers

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Top Obama Adviser Calls on Biden to Step Aside Following Abysmal Poll Numbers

(Headline USA) David Axelrod, who served as chief campaign adviser to former President Barack Obama adviser, suggested this week that President Joe Biden should drop out of the 2024 race, following polls that show Biden losing to former President Donald Trump in five key swing states.

Axelrod, now a strategist and popular left-wing podcaster, cited the new survey from the New York Times showing Biden trailing in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania—all states he won in 2020.

With the exeption of Nevada, Trump won the others in his 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton.

Current projections gave Trump a 301 advantage in the Electoral College, safely beyond the 270 margin needed to win the presidency, even if one or two of the swing states were to break in Biden’s favor.

The Times poll was released on Nov. 5 exactly one year from Election Day.

“Only @JoeBiden can make this decision,” Axelrod tweeted. “If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it’s in HIS best interest or the country’s?”

Axelrod noted it’s “very late to change horses,” but argued the poor polling results will “send tremors of doubt thru the party.”

Those doubts, he argued, are “legitimate” concerns.

During an interview with CNN on Monday, Axelrod clarified that Biden’s biggest weakness now is his age.

Obama had “lousy polling numbers at this time in our campaign” when he was running for reelection, but “Obama was 50 and not 81, and we didn’t have Donald Trump on the other side,” Axelrod said.

“As I’ve said for like a couple years now, the issue’s not—for [Biden] is not political, its actuarial,” he continued. “You can see that in this poll and there’s just a lot of concern about the age issue—and that is something I think he needs to ponder. Just do a check and say, ‘Is this the right thing to do?’”

Axelrod’s comments come as several Democrats begin to ramp up their own challenges to the president. Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., launched his own campaign against Biden last month, arguing the soon-to-be-81-year-old incumbent needs to pass the torch to the younger generation of leaders.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is also expected to mount his own bid if given approval from the Democratic establishment, though he has repeatedly denied that he has presidential ambitions.

Many, however, remain skeptical that Democrats don’t have a trick up their sleeve planned for the Democratic National Convention, taking place in late August.

Because of the powerful role that superdelegates play in the DNC, the party elites might already have predetermined an alternative candidate who will run in Biden’s place and be running the current president as a decoy to avoid a divisive campaign season that would involve intensive scrutiny and vetting of their choice rather than focusing on former President Donald Trump.

The person in question—be it Michelle Obama or another surprise alternative—would need to have immediate name recognition and a ready source of revenue already at hand to compensate for the lost time. Nonetheless, a brokered convention at the DNC would effectively render moot the party’s entire primary season.

Leftist Rep.: Blacks Switching Parties Don’t Understand ‘How Any of This Works’

Molly Bruns
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Leftist Rep.: Blacks Switching Parties Don’t Understand ‘How Any of This Works’

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, claimed that President Joe Biden’s sudden support slump among black Americans was caused by their failing to understand basic civics and allowing their feelings to dictate their vote.

In an interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Crockett made the statement in reaction to recent polling data showing the demographic shift ahead of the 2024 election.

“Here’s the deal: perception is reality. So, when you look at the data that was provided in this poll it talks about how people feel and when people decide whether they’re going to the poll… it’s all about how you feel in that moment,” she said.

“While he facts may not align with their feelings, their feelings are dictating their reality. The reality is that they said they feel better or felt better when Trump was in office.”

Crockett continued, elaborating on the outside influences that also affect the voting bloc, saying that famous rappers and other black icons sway the voters in a specific direction by reminding them of the stimulus checks.

She followed that up by claiming that the voters did not understand that stimulus checks came from Congress—not former President Donald Trump’s office.

“We have the perception issue and we also have an issue as it relates to civics in this country and people not understanding exactly how all of this works,” she claimed.

Recent polling data showed that Trump leads against Biden in five of the six most prominent battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

Biden currently trails behind Trump by an average of 6 points across the five states. He retained his 2 point lead in Wisconsin.

According to official records, Biden won all six states in the 2020 election. Black voters registered at 22% support for Trump—a record breaking figure.

Biden’s mental sharpness was also a prominent concern for many voters.

Israeli Defense Minister Offers Palestinians a Pathway to Peace

Jacob Bruns
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Israeli Defense Minister Offers Palestinians a Pathway to Peace

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, extended an olive branch of sorts Palestinians in a Saturday press conference, inviting them to help end recent hostilities by overthrowing their terrorist government.

Gallant said that the shortest pathway to peace was for residents of Gaza to help kill Hamas leaders, the Times of Israel reported.

“We will get to [Hamas Gaza chief] Yahya Sinwar and eliminate him,” Gallant said. “If the residents of Gaza get there ahead of us, that will shorten the war.”

In fact, the only way for the war to end altogether is to give Israel “absolute freedom” to deal with security threats in Gaza.

Gallant made the statement at the end of a two-day visit with reserve soldiers near the front lines, suggesting that they are prepared to “fight until victory.”

“Israel must complete the mission,” he reportedly told soldiers.

He said the Israeli Defense Forces were “determined” to wipe out Hamas in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre that killed some 1,300 innocent civilians—many of them raped and tortured. Hamas terroriss also took between 200 and 250 hostages back to Gaza and has yet to release them.

The surprise attack effectively broke a two-year ceasefire between the oft-warring regions and convinced Israel’s government that it could no longer allow its neighboring territory to be ruled by an organization willing and able to plot such atrocities in secret while publicly pretending to pursue peaceful coexistence.

The IDF is currently undertaking an all-out assault on Gaza City from both north and south. Hamas claims that the assault has cost the lives of more than 10,000 Palestinians in Gaza, although it does not distinguish between enemy combatants and civilians being used as human shields.

“At the end of the war, there will be no more Hamas in Gaza,” Gallant said. “There will be no more security threat from Gaza on Israel, and Israel will have absolute freedom to take whatever security action it seeks against anyone who raises his head in Gaza [to threaten Israel].”

Gallant was echoing statements made previously by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who promised soon after Hamas’s initial attack to “change the Middle East,” noting that “this is only the beginning.”

In an apparent commitment to all-out warfare, the prime minister added that what Israel does to its enemies in the coming days “will echo for generations.”

BREAKING: Trans Mass Shooter’s Purported Manifesto Leaked to Media

Ken Silva
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BREAKING: Trans Mass Shooter’s Purported Manifesto Leaked to Media

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Conservative pundit Steven Crowder announced Monday that he’s obtained the first three pages of the Nashville mass shooter’s manifesto, which he says shows how the transgender triggerman was brainwashed by left-wing propaganda.

Crowder’s purported exclusive was announced by broadcaster Alex Jones, who works with Crowder.

“We have confirmed it was the Justice Department suppressing it. The local government is upset about this. And from sources within the system, they have leaked to Stephen Crowder’s investigative unit the first three pages, where she talks about wokeness and hating white privilege,” Jones said.

“This is being done to then pressure the government of Nashville to officially release the manifesto—because it’s reportedly huge—and see how this monster was brainwashed and poisoned by leftist propaganda.”

The first three pages of the manifesto contain profanity-laced diatribes against the shooter’s victims.

“F— you, you little shits. I wish to shoot you weak-ass dicks with your mop yellow hair, wanna kill all you little crackers!” a purported excerpt said.

The first three pages also included the shooter, Audrey Hale’s, thoughts from the day of the shooting, March 27, which Hale called “death day.”

“Don’t know how I was able to get this far, but here I am. I’m a little nervous, but excited too. Been excited for the past two weeks,” the purported manifesto said. “There were several times I could have been caught, especially back in the summer of 2021. None of that matters now.”

Crowder promised to release the entire document.

Hale, a 28-year-old woman who was identifying as a man at the time of the mass shooting, gunned down three Christian children and three adults in March before being killed by law enforcement. In the subsequent investigation, officials discovered a manifesto in Hale’s apartment.

Public interest and concern over what drove the trans mass shooter’s rage has led to intensified calls for the release of the manifesto, which reportedly reveals in chilling details what Hale had planned.

“What I was told is, her manifesto was a blueprint on total destruction, and it was so, so detailed at the level of what she had planned,” Metro Nashville Council Member Courtney Johnston previously told the New York Post. “That document in the wrong person’s hands would be astronomically dangerous.”

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

Trump Takes Stand to Testify in Defense against N.Y. Witch Hunt

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Trump Takes Stand to Testify in Defense against N.Y. Witch Hunt

(Headline USA) When Donald Trump takes the stand Monday in a Manhattan courtroom to testify in his civil fraud trial, it will be an undeniable spectacle: a former president and the leading Republican presidential candidate defending himself against spurious allegations that he dramatically inflated his net worth.

Those claims, unilaterally determined by a radical extremist judge and a state attorney general who embarked on a fishing expedition after a campaign that centered around taking down the then-president, are an affront to American jurisprudence that threaten to turn the entire legal process into little more than a meaningless spectacle if successful.

The charges cut to the very heart of the brand Trump spent decades carefully crafting and put him at risk of losing control of much of his business empire.

But the appearance may also mark the beginning of what will likely be a defining feature of the 2024 election if Trump becomes his party’s nominee: a major candidate, on trial, using the witness stand as a campaign platform as he eyes a return to the White House while facing multiple criminal indictments.

“It’s going to be a stunning moment,” said far-left presidential historian Douglas Brinkley.

“This is dramatic enough if he was simply an ex-president facing these charges,” Brinkley added. “But the fact that he is the overwhelming favorite to run the GOP, it makes this a staggering Monday.”

The courtroom at 60 Centre St. has already become a familiar destination for Trump. He has spent hours over the last month voluntarily seated at the defense table, observing the proceedings.

Trump once took the stand—unexpectedly and briefly—after he was accused of violating a partial gag order. Trump denied violating the rules, but Judge Arthur Engoron disagreed and fined him anyway.

The vast majority of his speaking has happened outside the courtroom, where he has taken full advantage of the bank of assembled media to voice his outrage and spin the days’ proceedings in the most favorable way.

He will also be coming face-to-face again Monday with Engoron, whom he has lambasted on his social media site in recent days as a “wacko” and “RADICAL LEFT, DEMOCRAT OPERATIVE JUDGE” who has already “ruled viciously” against him.

Trump will also be joined by his former fixer and attorney-turned witness, Michal Cohen, who said in an interview he was planning to attend Monday’s proceedings.

“My intent is to attend Donald’s appearance as he was gracious enough to attend my court appearances,” he said.

Among the topics likely to be covered: Trump’s role in his company’s decision making, in its valuing of his properties, and in preparing his annual financial statements. Trump is likely to be asked about loans and other deals that were made using the statements and what intent, if any, he had in portraying his wealth to banks and insurers the way the documents did.

Trump is also likely to be asked about how he views and values his brand—and the economic impact of his fame and time as president—and may be asked to explain claims that his financial statements actually undervalued his wealth.

Trump has argued that disclaimers on his financial statements should have alerted people relying on the documents to do their own homework and verify the numbers themselves—an answer that he’s likely to repeat on the witness stand. Trump has said the disclaimer absolved him of wrongdoing.

The practice is common in similar real-estate dealings and has raised questions as to whether partisan New York Attorney General Letitia James intends to go after all of those whose self-appraisals of their worth may not align with those of a judge.

Some also have pointed out that Engoron’s appraisal dramatically undervalued the resale potential of a property tied to Trump’s name, most notably his Mar-a-Lago club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Eric Trump, the former president’s middle son, who testified in the case last week, said his father was eager for his appearance on the stand.

“I know he’s very fired up to be here. And he thinks that this is one of the most incredible injustices that he’s ever seen. And it truly is,” the younger Trump told reporters Friday, insisting his family was winning even though the judge has already ruled mostly against them.

Unlike most Americans, Trump has ample experience fielding questions from lawyers and has a long history of depositions and courtroom testimony that offer insight into how he might respond.

But nothing in Trump’s past has come close to what he’s facing now since they were largely civil matters “where even though the dollar amounts were in the millions of dollars, they were never of any real consequence to him or obviously to his freedom,” claimed Cohen, who worked for Trump for more than a decade before defecting in the Mueller investigation.

Trump refused to pardon his former lawyer, who wound up spending time in jail in connection with the alleged hush-money payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy bunny Karen McDougal. Cohen also was accused of perjuring himself before Congress.

“Right now this New York attorney general case is a threat to the extinction of his eponymous company as well as his financial future,” he said.

Trump’s forthcoming criminal cases “have far more significant consequences, most specifically the termination of his freedom.”

However, even former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the “wing man” to former President Barack Obama, has doubts that Trump would face jail time if there is so much as a scintilla of politically motivated prosecution ahead of the 2024 election. Doing so would likely have the opposite effect politically—potentially rallying more voters to his support and electing Trump with a long list of vendettas and political scores to settle. There is no constitutional prohibition to electing a president who has been criminally convicted.

Brinkley, the historian, said there was little precedent for Trump’s appearance, but said it won’t be the first time a past president has taken the stand in a trial accusing him of wrongdoing. He pointed to one case in 1915, when, after unsuccessfully running for a third term as a third-party candidate, former President Theodore Roosevelt was sued for libel for criticizing New York Republican Party boss William Barnes.

The judge eventually ruled in Roosevelt’s favor after a five week trial, in which the former president spent eight days on the witness stand.

“They were five weeks of great strain,” he wrote in a letter to his son. “But the result was a great triumph, and I am bound that there shall be no more libel suits as far as I am concerned, and for the present at least no further active participation in politics for me.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

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