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US Monthly Headline News March 2024 - Page 2
Story by ChaChingQueen

Donald Trump, a name synonymous with both business acumen and controversy, has navigated through numerous ventures over the decades.

As a child of the 1980s, I remember a few of my uncles on my mom's side sitting around and playing poker. Then, a few of my uncles on my dad's side would play some game where they flipped dimes to see who got closest to the wall.

But I was told not to gamble because the house always wins. I wasn't allowed to play these games. But then again I wasn't even ten yet.

At the same time there was this guy on the news all the time for bankrupting casinos. But he was also on TV constantly telling people how rich he was.

I remember asking my dad about this Donald Trump guy. I was very confused. How was he rich, yet bankrupting casinos? As a kid, I did not understand.

My dad (who now proudly wears Trump hats and socks), explained that Trump made his money from his dad and from telling people he was rich by writing The Art of The Deal.
Donald Trump’s son-in-law also says Israel should bulldoze an area of the Negev desert and move Palestinians there
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor

Jared Kushner has praised the “very valuable” potential of Gaza’s “waterfront property” and suggested Israel should remove civilians while it “cleans up” the strip.

The former property dealer, married to Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, made the comments in an interview at Harvard University on 8 March.

Kushner was a senior foreign policy adviser under Trump’s presidency and was tasked with preparing a peace plan for the Middle East. Critics of the plan, which involved Israel striking normalisation deals with Gulf states, said it bypassed questions about the future for Palestinians.

His remarks at Harvard gave a hint of the kind of Middle East policy that could be pursued in the event that Trump returns to the White House, including a search for a normalisation deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Emily DeLetter, Delaney Nothaft | USA TODAY

Ketamine was one of the many topics discussed in a contentious interview released this week between former CNN host Don Lemon and billionaire X owner Elon Musk.

Lemon's hour-long interview with Musk was released Monday for for the debut of "The Don Lemon Show" on X. After the interview, Lemon, who was fired by CNN in 2023, revealed that Musk decided to cancel a partnership between his show and X.

Early in the interview, Lemon asked Musk if he was "sober" when he posts "controversial stuff" on X. Lemon also questioned Musk on his use of ketamine to treat depression.

"It's pretty private to ask somebody about a medical prescription," Musk replied, saying ketamine is helpful for getting him out of a "negative frame of mind."
Story by N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY

Six white former law enforcement officers in Mississippi are set to be sentenced in federal court this week over the beating and sexual assault of two Black men, one of whom was shot in the mouth.

Five former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies and another officer pleaded guilty to more than a dozen federal charges in August after Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker accused them of bursting into a home without a warrant, beating them, assaulting them with a sex toy and shocking them repeatedly with stun guns last year. Jenkins said one of the deputies shoved a gun in his mouth and fired the weapon.

"I relive this everyday," Parker, who is expected to testify in court this week, said at a news conference Monday. "I relive this every time I turn on the TV, anytime I get on my phone, I'm on social media and I'm seeing everybody telling my story, everybody telling my story."
Story by Lee Moran

Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman (R) on Sunday called “B.S.” on the spin that Donald Trump’s campaign has put on his “bloodbath” warning from the weekend.

Trump at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, said while talking about the auto industry that, “If I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole … that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”

Trump was slammed for using violent rhetoric but his campaign claimed his comment was taken out of context and he’d been talking about the economy.

MSNBC’s “The Sunday Show” host Jonathan Capehart told Whitman that he called “B.S. on that” excuse from the Trump campaign.
Story by Sean O'Driscoll

Donald Trump declared hundreds of classified documents as "personal" as he was moving them from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump's former valet has claimed in court.

Walt Nauta, and former Mar-a-Lago property manager, Carlos De Oliveira, have pleaded not guilty in a Florida federal court to assisting Trump in hiding classified documents at the estate.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 40 charges over allegations he illegally retained about 300 classified documents, among other presidential records, when he left the White House in January 2021. He is also accused of obstructing federal attempts to retrieve them from his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Newsweek sought email comment from Trump's attorney on Monday. Trump is the presumptive Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

In their latest filing, Nauta's lawyers, Stanley Woodward and Sasha Dadan, claim that Trump designated the documents as personal as he was leaving the White House, before the start of the Biden presidency.
Story by Lee Moran

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough on Monday insisted Donald Trump meant his warning about a “bloodbath” in America if he’s not elected, despite the Trump campaign’s claims to the contrary he was only talking about the auto industry.

“It was a distinction without a difference,” said Scarborough.

What made it clear what GOP nominee Trump was intending to say, Scarborough continued, was when he added afterward that a “bloodbath” would “be the least of it.”

Scarborough explained, “If you think there’s going to be a bloodbath in the auto industry, even if you take that argument at face value, which, again, given the tone of the rest of the speech, ‘Bloodbath,’ I’m not sure he’s talking about the niceties of international trade. But let’s just take that argument as is. Then he goes on and he says, ‘That’s going to be the least of it,’ and repeats it. ‘It’s going to be the least of it.’”

“Obviously, he’s talking about a bloodbath for America,” he added.
Story by Miranda Nazzaro

Former President Trump on Sunday doubled down on his push for former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) to be prosecuted over allegations she and the other Jan. 6 committee members purposely withheld testimony and details from their investigation into the former president’s actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.

Trump, on Truth Social on Sunday, posted a piece from former Trump administration aide Kash Patel published in The Federalist last week, in which Patel claimed Cheney and the House Jan. 6 committee “suppressed evidence” about the former president’s authorization of National Guard troops during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.

“SHE SHOULD BE PROSECUTED FOR WHAT SHE HAS DONE TO OUR COUNTRY! SHE ILLEGALLY DESTROYED THE EVIDENCE. UNREAL!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social while linking to Patel’s piece.

Cheney clapped back Sunday at Trump’s calls for her to be jailed on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, writing, “Hi Donald: you know these are lies. You have had all the grand jury & J6 transcripts for many months. You’re trying to halt your 1/6 trial because your VP, WH counsel, WH aides, campaign & DOJ officials etc. will testify against you. You’re afraid of the truth and you should be.”
Story by Joe DePaolo

Former Vice President Mike Pence seethed over former President Donald Trump calling imprisoned Jan. 6 rioters “hostages” at a rally on Saturday.

In an interview on Face the Nation Sunday, CBS’ Margaret Brennan played a clip of Trump lauding the rioters as “unbelievable patriots” and denouncing their imprisonment.

“You see this spirit from the hostages?” Trump said Saturday at a rally in Ohio. “And that’s what they are os hostages. They’ve been treated terribly and very unfairly, and you know that, and everybody knows that. And we’re going to be working on that soon. The first day we get into office, we’re going to save our country, and we’re going to work with the people to treat those unbelievable patriots. And they were unbelievable patriots.”

Pence — who, on Friday, announced he will not endorse Trump’s 2024 candidacy — sounded off on the president he served under for four years.

“I think it’s very unfortunate at a time that there are American hostages being held in Gaza,” Pence said. “That the president or any other leaders would refer to people that are moving through our justice system as hostages. And it’s just unacceptable!”
They talk about Biden's mental state what about Trump’s mental state?

Story by Zeleb.es

Former President Donald Trump forgot the name of his wife and possibly confused her with one of his former staffers during a recent speech according to some media reports. What happened and what it means may surprise you.

The Conservative Political Action Conference
While speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 24th, the former president appeared to forget the name of his wife Melania while introducing her and then moments later called her Mercedes.

The comments everyone is arguing over
"Well look, my wife, our great first lady, she was great... people love her," Trump told the crowd before later going on to say: "Oh look at that, wow. Mercedes, that's pretty good!" It was a gaffe that quickly went viral online.

Is Trump suffering cognitive decline?
Newsweek noted that people clipped the speech and published a version of the gaffe on Twitter. Political analysts like Luke Beasley used Trump’s comment to accuse the former president of suffering from cognitive decline.

“Why won't the media cover it?"
“Donald Trump called his wife, Melania, 'Mercedes' in a speech and I haven't seen a word from the media,” Beasley explained before adding: "Donald Trump is in cognitive decline—why won't the media cover it?"
Story by Lonnie G. Bunch III

In all my years doing research at the National Archives, I had never cried. That day in fall 2012, I had simply planned to examine documentary material that might help determine how the yet-to-be-built National Museum of African American History and Culture would explore and present the complicated history of American slavery and freedom.

As I read through the papers of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands—the Freedmen’s Bureau, as it’s usually called—I decided to see if I could find records from Wake County, North Carolina, where I knew some of my own enslaved ancestors had lived. I had few expectations because I knew so little about my family’s history. From a surviving wedding certificate for my paternal great-grandparents, I’d gotten the name of my earliest-known family member, an enslaved woman named Candis Bunch, my great-great-grandmother. But scrolling through rolls of microfilmed documents from the Raleigh office of the Freedmen’s Bureau, I realized the chances were remote that I would find my ancestor.

But when I turned my attention to a series of labor contracts—designed to give the newly freed some legal protections as they negotiated working relationships with their former enslavers—I found a single page documenting a contract between Fabius H. Perry, who owned the plantation next to the one where my ancestors had been enslaved, and Candis Bunch. That page not only filled a void in my knowledge of my family’s history, but also enriched my understanding of myself.
Opinion by Charlie Sykes

On Jan. 6, 2021, Julian Khater used a can of bear spray to attack Capitol Police officers who were trying to hold the line against attackers. One of the officers Khater sprayed was Brian Sicknick, who died the next day after suffering a stroke.

Last year, Khater pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon, and earlier this year he was sentenced to more than six years in prison.

Presumably, he is one of the “Jan. 6 hostages” that Donald Trump says he will set free on his first day back in office, should he be elected in November, per a social media post that reads, "My first acts as your next President will be to Close the Border, DRILL, BABY, DRILL, and Free the January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned!"

Curious minds (or at least the media) ought to ask whether Trump’s alleged get-out-of-jail card would also include Brian Christopher Mock, who bragged that he “beat the s--- out of a police officer,” according to someone who spoke with the FBI. Mock, who was wielding a baton as a weapon, was sentenced to 33 months in prison and another two years of supervised release for a total of six felonies, including obstructing police officers during a civil disorder, and four counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers.
Story by Zahara Hill

In the everlasting faceoff between Black history and America’s self-conception, it’s worth revisiting one of the fight’s earliest and most valiant weapons of war: the slave memoir.

Narratives by formerly enslaved writers like Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass and Solomon Northup were critical to shedding light on the otherwise unthinkable realities of enslavement. Whatever idea of civility and morality America wanted to project to the world, slave memoirs were gutting proof to the contrary.

“The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” — one of the foremost examples of the literary genre — offered a firsthand glimpse into the depravities that constituted chattel slavery. In it, Douglass recounts being emotionally and physically brutalized by Edward Covey, who had a reputation as a “slave-breaker,” and watching slaveholders cite Bible verses as they whipped the enslaved, among other atrocities.

The scholar says he was first introduced to the cruelties of enslavement when he saw his Aunt Hester stripped and beaten by her slaveholder, Captain Anthony. Douglass writes that his aunt was being punished for going against Anthony’s demands. But the author also suspected the slaveholder had a sexual interest in his aunt and that his attack was retaliatory because she’d recently spent time with a male slave. (Harriet Jacobs’ 1861 “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” also provides further insight into the deplorably complex experiences of enslaved women.)
Story by Kelly Rissman

Aformer FBI informant has been charged with lying about President Joe Biden and his son’s business dealings — but his reputation as a “liar” dates back to at least 2016, according to a report.

The Republican-led impeachment inquiry into the president hinged on details that Alexander Smirnov provided — which have now been deemed as “false derogatory information.”

But long before these recent revelations, Mr Smirnov’s credibility was called into question.

There was a criminal case in which Mr Smirnov allegedly gave false information to the FBI — unbeknownst to the agency at the time — that ultimately led to a prosecution, CBS News reported.

Mr Smirnov’s information was used in a 2015 racketeering case in California, in which the Justice Department brought charges against 33 defendants, the outlet wrote. His information also led to a separate case involving two of the defendants in the racketeering case.
Story by Sophia Cai

Donald Trump's new team at the Republican National Committee is reversing its plans to cut the party's community centers for minority voters — and a program to encourage early voting — after a backlash from RNC members.

Why it matters: It's a sign that some of the new RNC leadership's moves — which included firing dozens of staffers — did not go over well with many RNC members.

Zoom in: Some RNC members worry that the Trump team's plans to cut group's resources at the state level will direct more to his presidential campaign at the expense of the party's long-term future.

The firings and the Trump team's initial signals about the program cuts seemed to confirm many members' fears about the Trump takeover, which involved installing North Carolina GOP chair Michael Whatley and Lara Trump — the ex-president's daughter-in-law — as the RNC's new leaders.

"The Trump campaign should keep in mind, this ain't just about the White House. It's bigger than that, bigger than one candidate," one RNC member told Axios.
Story by David McAfee

Donald Trump on Saturday came under fire for how he glorifies people convicted of crimes amid the insurrection following his speech on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump over the weekend spoke at a Buckeye Values PAC Rally in Dayton, Ohio, where he flubbed his words several times and was accused of "glitching" on stage. In that same speech, he also warned of an impending "bloodbath" if he loses the election.

But before the former president's talk even began, the announcer was already referring to convicts from Jan. 6 as "hostages." The J6 Prison Choir also sang the opening song before Trump spoke.

"Well thank you very much, and you see the spirit from the hostages, and that's what they are. Hostages. We’re going to work with the people to treat those unbelievable patriots, and they were unbelievable patriots," Trump said at the rally on Saturday.
The suspect allegedly killed several family members before fleeing, police said.
By Meredith Deliso

A suspect accused of killing three family members, including his 13-year-old sister, in a Philadelphia suburb and then fleeing to New Jersey is now in custody, officials said.

The suspect -- identified as 26-year-old Andre Gordon Jr. -- was initially reported barricaded with hostages inside a residence in Trenton midday Saturday, hours after the shootings unfolded at two residences in Falls Township, Pennsylvania, police said.

Following an hours long standoff, police received information that Gordon may be on the street, according to Trenton Police Director Steve Wilson. The suspect was apprehended walking several blocks near the home without incident Saturday evening, Wilson said.

Gordon may have "slipped out" of the residence before police were able to establish a perimeter around the home, Wilson said.
Jared Kushner received $2 billion from Saudi Arabia where is the GOP outcry?

By Rachel Dobkin | newsweek

Jared Kushner was accused of "corruption" by Representative Robert Garcia, a California Democrat, after news broke of Kushner's new foreign real estate deals.

Kushner, the son-in-law of former President Donald Trump who was a senior White House official in the Trump administration and worked on policy for the Middle East, posted pictures of "early design images" for his new development projects in Albania and Serbia on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday. The proposed projects include luxury buildings off the coast of Albania and in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.

"We are very excited," Kushner told The New York Times on Friday. "We have not finalized these deals, so they might not happen, but we have been working hard and are pretty close."

The deals would be made through Kushner's investment firm, Affinity Partners, which he started after he left the White House. The firm received $2 billion from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF). However, his company told the newspaper it has not yet determined if Saudi funds for the project would be used.
Opinion by Steve Vladeck

On Tuesday, the little-known Judicial Conference of the United States — the policymaking arm of the federal judiciary — made some unusual headlines by announcing a new effort to make it harder for plaintiffs in certain lawsuits challenging state or federal policies to hand-pick the specific judge who hears their case. This crackdown on “judge shopping” is long overdue. It has also provoked a rather telling reaction from Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz and Thom Tillis.

In a letter to the chief judges of all 94 federal district courts on Thursday, the senators urged those jurists to ignore the new policy — which they laid at the feet of Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer — because, in their view, these judges should ignore “partisan battles in Washington, D.C.” But it’s judge shopping itself, not efforts by the judiciary to rein it in, that have become a “partisan battle.” The McConnell/Cruz/Tillis letter, ironically, only drives that point home.
Opinion by Conrad Dias

WASHINGTON, DC: Political strategist Steve Bannon recently asserted that MAGA supporters should be "prepared to go to prison" during his keynote address at the Patrons for American Statecraft Conference in Washington, DC on March 15th.

In his speech, he further mentioned that former President Donald Trump is not flawless and proceeded to describe him as an "instrument of divine providence."

Steve Bannon states MAGA should be 'prepared to go to prison'
During the speech, Bannon said, "The political class in this city cannot deal with the problems we face. This is why they hate Trump. Trump's not perfect. He's far from perfect. That he's an instrument of divine providence is no doubt in my mind because I was there. I saw it."

He added, "No money, no organization, a plane, a man, a message, and just go around and people listened because he connects to them and he shows you the multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition we can put together, particularly if we focus on the economics of it."
Story by J.D. Wolf

During his Lara Trump interview episode, Blaze host Alex Stein led his "chat rats," those loyal fans who post comments on his livestreams, in a pledge to riot against government buildings if Stein commands them to. Stein led his followers in the oath after Lara Trump left the set. Stein is a fringe, right wing personality and Lara Trump's presence further legitimizes his content as mainstream for the right.

After Lara Trump left the set, Stein appeared upset that one of the "chat rats" may have insinuated that Lara Trump’s interview wasn’t live and claimed that his loyal followers would always have his show’s back “under every circumstance.”
Story by Carl Gibson

Former President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner (who was also a senior adviser in his White House) has been ramping up his overseas business dealings undeterred by the optics of doing so in the midst of his father-in-law's presidential campaign.

A Friday report in the New York Times scrutinized Kushner's real estate deals in Balkan countries of Albania and Serbia, in which he stands to reap significant financial benefits once they're completed. The Times reported that Kushner has been working with Richard Grenell, who was Trump's former acting Director of National Intelligence who also served as German ambassador and a special envoy to the Balkans.

Notably, two of the three projects Kushner is aiming to finalize this year involve the transfer of land currently owned by Albania and Serbia, meaning a member of the president's immediate family (Kushner is married to Trump's daughter, Ivanka) stands to receive money directly from foreign governments. According to the Times, the first project involves redeveloping an island off the Albanian coast into a high-end luxury resort, and the second would be a 1,500-unit apartment building, museum and luxury hotel in the Serbian capital city of Belgrade. The third — which doesn't involve a direct land acquisition from a foreign government — is a planned resort development in coastal southern Albania.
Matthew Chapman

Donald Trump's installation of loyalists at the Republican National Committee and the subsequent staffer purge served as a trial run for what the former president plans to do next, says GOP strategist and Republican Accountability Project leader Sarah Longwell.

Longwell appeared on MSNBC Tuesday night to discuss with host Chris Hayes Trump's plans for the civil service if reelected to the White House in 2025 one day after a reported RNC "bloodbath" saw 60 officials get the ax.

"I always feel like we've taken the final step in Trump's complete takeover of the Republican Party, but there is always another step," said Longwell. "Because he is formally taking over the Republican Party apparatus here. You know, so it started with the resignation of Jeff Flake and it ends with Lara Trump controlling the RNC."
OK! Magazine

At one point, he said, Trump told the audience how he moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018, which saw the U.S. officially recognizing the city as Israel's capital. Elsewhere in the speech, Trump falsely accused Biden's administration of persecuting Roman Catholics. "And let me tell you, they always show you the first one - like a giraffe, a tiger, a whale," Trump said as the crowd burst into laughter.
Story by James Saunders

Vladimir Putin appeared visibly angry on the first day of Russia's election following widespread reports of protests and vandalism by voters across the country.

The three-day election kicked off last night and is set to run until 6pm on Sunday - and it seems inevitable that the incumbent premier will sweep to victory yet again.

But already, videos have been posted to social media showing nationwide chaos, with Russians protesting in various ways - including at polling stations.

In footage posted to Telegram - a popular messaging app among Russians - a person can be seen allegedly urinating on Putin's parents' grave in St Petersburg's Serafimovsky cemetery.
Story by Nick Mordowanec

AFlorida sheriff compared U.S.-Mexico border photos to tout efforts to protect the state from potential mass migration flows from Haiti and elsewhere.

Haiti, which is about 831 miles from Florida at its shortest distance, has drawn renewed attention from Florida officials after weeks of gang violence emanating from a massive jailbreak of more than 4,500 inmates. The gangs reportedly control about 80 percent of the capital city Port-au-Prince, essentially ousting the Caribbean nation's acting prime minister, Ariel Henry, in the near future, pending the creation of a transitional presidential council.

U.S. military officials, some of whom were requested by Florida Representative Matt Gaetz to prepare Navy vessels to deter Haitian ships in the Atlantic, said this week that they are anticipating any mass migration flows into the country. On Wednesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis deployed more than 250 officers and soldiers from the Florida State Guard, Division of Emergency Management and law enforcement agencies to the state's southern coast.
Opinion by Shreeja Das

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Chris Hayes assessed the condition of the Republican Party on March 14, considering Trump's replacement of all members in the National Republican Congress with loyalists.

His assessment was bleak. Hayes elucidated that under Trump, the GOP prioritizes "preventing people from voting" over "directly winning more votes."

Chris Hayes analyzes Trump's stance on democracy and RNC control
"Donald Trump's relationship with democracy and self-government seems pretty straightforward," Hayes said as he began the commentary.

"He doesn't care about that. Because he doesn't like to lose, right? He lost the democratic elections. He's desperate for criminal immunity. So it's kind of instrumental to him. No democracy, no loss, no problem."

Hayes argued that this extends beyond mere self-interest for Trump. "Opposing democracy isn't just convenient for him. It's actually a deeply ingrained and steadfast ideological conviction," Hayes asserted.
Story by Kathleen Culliton

Former President Donald Trump has made a disturbing shift in his 2024 presidential campaign stump speeches, according to a rhetorician raising the alarm about authoritarianism.

“He's running as a dictator," Professor Jennifer Mercieca told progressive commentator Aaron Rupar, "He's determined to destroy the Constitution.”

Rupar published Thursday his takeaways from a conversation with Mercieca after a primary night Tuesday that confirmed Trump and President Joe Biden will once again face off in a race to claim the White House in 2025.
Story by Jacob Miller

In what appears to be a recurring pattern of partisan stalemates within the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Republican commissioners have declined to vote in favor of investigating allegations against former President Donald Trump and his committees—despite recommendations for probes from nonpartisan staff attorneys. This obstruction by the GOP commissioners has effectively granted Trump a shield against accountability for potential violations of campaign finance laws.

The FEC, a six-member body meant to enforce campaign finance regulations, requires a minimum of four votes to approve any investigative action. Given that the agency is structured so that no more than three commissioners can be from the same political party, this setup has allowed the Republican commissioners to wield a veto power over enforcement actions, paralyzing the commission in matters involving Trump.
Story by Ny MaGee

*A Texas attorney sent a “threatening and harassing letter” to a Black federally appointed judge, and he was subsequently fired from his law firm.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Ben Aderholt, a Houston-based attorney, called Judge Erica Hudges a “political animal" in the letter.

“Who do you think you are? Running against a Democrat, a highest rated judge,” Aderbolt wrote, the Black Information Network reports. “Political animals who treat our judiciary as political games should be soundly defeated.”

Hudges, who is running for Houston's 151st Judicial District, told FOX 26 she was "shocked and surprised to receive that letter."
Trump co-defendant Michael Roman accused Willis of misconduct for her “clandestine” relationship with Nathan Wade, whom she appointed as special counsel.
By Blayne Alexander, Dareh Gregorian and Charlie Gile

ATLANTA — A Georgia judge ruled Friday that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should not be disqualified from prosecuting the racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and several co-defendants — with one major condition.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee found the "appearance of impropriety" brought about by Willis' romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade should result in either Willis and her office leaving the case — or just Wade, who she'd appointed to head the case.

The choice is likely to be an easy one: If Willis were to remove herself, the case would come to a halt, but having Wade leave will ensure the case continues without further delay.
By Jason Morris, Nick Valencia and Devan Cole, CNN

CNN — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can stay on and prosecute the Georgia 2020 election interference racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and 14 of his co-defendants, Judge Scott McAfee ruled Friday, but only if she removes the special prosecutor with whom she engaged in a romantic relationship.

CNN has reached out to the district attorney’s office.

After more than two months marked by a flurry of court motions and hearings, which included fiery testimony from Willis on the stand defending her relationship with Nathan Wade, the sprawling conspiracy case against Trump and his 2020 allies can now proceed depending on Willis’ decision.

McAfee was highly critical of Willis and Wade’s relationship, describing it as being the result of “bad choices.”

“This finding is by no means an indication that the Court condones this tremendous lapse in judgment or the unprofessional manner of the District Attorney’s testimony during the evidentiary hearing,” McAfee wrote.

However, the judge wrote, “Georgia law does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad choices – even repeatedly.”

And the judge described Willis’ fiery testimony last month during one of the hearings over whether to disqualify her as “unprofessional.”
Story by Kelly Rissman

An American company that allegedly paid an indicted FBI informant accused of lying about Joe Biden and his son’s business dealings has ties to former President Donald Trump, according to a report.

Economic Transformation Technologies (ETT), the company, paid Alexander Smirnov, the once-FBI informant, $600,000 in September 2020, a February court filing states, reported The Guardian.

This hefty payment was made “in exchange for a stake in an Israel-based crypto trading platform” that Mr Smirnov was trying to launch, the Wall Street Journal reported in February.

The document also notes that months prior, in June, Mr Smirnov first began telling “fabrications” to the agency. Mr Smirnov has since been charged for these lies.

ETT’s CEO is Christopher Condon, a shareholder in the London-based ETT Investment Holding Limited, which has since been dissolved, The Guardian reported,

The other two shareholders, Shahal Khan and Farooq Arjomand are connected to Mr Trump through the former president’s associates, according to the outlet.

Mr Arjomand is the former chair and current board member of Damac Properties in Dubai, to which Mr Trump has previously been tied.

The founder of Damac Properties, Hussain Sajwani, previously told Forbes in 2016: “We made a deal with Trump as an organization; they know how to run golf courses…We stay away from politics.” Mr Trump has in turn called Mr Sajwani a “very amazing man.”
Story by Jordan Andrews

The Detroit News published a recording of a November 2020 phone call where Trump pressured Michigan Republican officials not to certify their county's election results.

Ronna McDaniel
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel was also on the call, pushing the officials to reject certification.

Do not sign it
“If you can go home tonight, do not sign it... We will get you attorneys,” Ronna McDaniel said.

The call raises questions
The call raises questions about potential legal ramifications for both Trump and McDaniel.
By Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck, CNN

CNN  — The Republican nominee for superintendent overseeing North Carolina’s public schools and its $11 billion budget has a history marked by extreme and controversial comments, including sharing baseless conspiracy theories and frequent calls for the execution of prominent Democrats.

Michele Morrow, a conservative activist who last week upset the incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction in North Carolina’s Republican primary, expressed support in 2020 for the televised execution of former President Barack Obama and suggested killing then-President-elect Joe Biden.

In other comments on social media between 2019 and 2021 reviewed by CNN’s KFile, Morrow made disturbing suggestions about executing prominent Democrats for treason, including Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Hillary Clinton, Sen. Chuck Schumer and other prominent people such as Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates.
BBC News

The father of a Michigan school gunman who killed four students has been convicted of manslaughter.

The trial heard that James Crumbley, 47, had ignored his 15-year-old son's mental health needs, buying him the handgun he used in the November 2021 attack.

The jury deliberated for just over a day before coming to the verdict.

Jennifer Crumbley, his wife, is due to be sentenced next month after being convicted on the same charges.
Story by Matt Shuham

The new team of Trump loyalists in charge of the Republican Party have spent years promoting the former president’s lies about the 2020 election. With the 2024 election around the corner, they’re set to pursue an agenda built on false claims of election fraud.

As dozens of Republican Party staffers have been purged in recent days and an incoming team takes power, much of the media attention has focused on new party co-chair Lara Trump ― who has said of Joe Biden’s presidency, “I don’t think he won it fair” ― and Christina Bobb, the far-right news anchor with a history of rejecting the 2020 election results, and who is now the party’s senior counsel for election integrity.

But the culture of election denialism starts at the top. Michael Whatley, the new Trump-endorsed chair of the party, is the former GOP general counsel and chair of the North Carolina GOP. He falsely claimed immediately after the 2020 election that there had been “massive fraud” nationwide.

“We do know that there was massive fraud that took place,” he said during a late-November radio interview, CNNand CBS News reported last month. “We know that it took place in places like Milwaukee and Detroit and Philadelphia.”
Opinion by Tim Dickinson

Former President Donald Trump's campaign is running online advertising to raise cash for 2024 - and a portion of that ad spending is monetizing pro-Nazi content on the streaming service Rumble, Rolling Stone has observed.

In a short video ad that plays before select videos on Rumble, Trump makes a pitch to the MAGA masses to help him counter "crooked Joe Biden" by donating to his 2024 campaign: "I am very humbly asking if you could chip in $5, $10, or even $25." Trump vows that donors will help him "win back the White House" and "make America great again, greater than ever before, I promise you that."

On Monday, Trump ads were being served up at the beginning of a new Rumble video by the reactionary broadcaster Stew Peters. In that video, Peters touts Hitler as "a hero" for the horrific Nazi book burnings of the 1930s, calling the violent display of cultural erasure "awesome." Peters even advocates a modern reenactment of the fiery Nazi spectacle, seeking retribution against what he falsely paints as a Jewish-led conspiracy to "make us surrender" to LGBTQ acceptance and sexual "degeneracy."
Story by Chris Lehmann

Politics
An extremist evangelical movement has set itself up to formulate the governing priorities of a second Trump administration.

Chris Lehmann
For anyone still reeling from Alabama Senator Katie Britt’s unnerving, mendacious, and alarmist Rick-Santorum-in-drag response to Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, buckle up: The MAGA movement has a lot more where that came from. Recent reporting highlights the steady rise of Christian nationalism within the GOP. This hard-line group inside the evangelical movement promulgates the lie that America was founded as a theocratic nation-state, and it has set up shop formulating the policy agendas and governing priorities for a second Trump administration.

In Politico, Alexander Ward and Heidi Przybyla chronicle the aims of a think tank called the Center for Renewing America (CRA), headed by Trump’s former director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought. The CRA is among the 100-plus conservative groups collaborating on Project 2025, a detailed and far-ranging blueprint for the Trump White House’s complete takeover of the administrative state. Vought’s policy shop brings a distinctly prophetic worldview to bear on such plans. Ward and Przybyla write:
Story by Zeleb.es

Donald Trump’s time as president was marked by the chaotic approach to policy that his administration brought to the executive branch of government, and it appears that all the chaos affected many of those working for the president.  

The White House Medical Unit had a problem
Uppers and downers were allegedly handed out like candy to officials serving the former president according to Rolling Stone's Nikki McCann Ramirez, who made her claim after the Department of Defense issued a report on the issue.

An investigation by the Department of Defense
In January 2024, the Department of Defense’s Office of the General Inspector published an 80-page document detailing how the White House Medical Unit was engaged in a lot of problematic behavior while Trump was the president.

“Severe and systemic problems”
The report concluded the White House Medical Unit’s pharmacy operations “had severe and systemic problems” and stated that the unit relied on “ineffective internal controls to ensure compliance with pharmacy safety standards.”
Eric Dolan

A police officer in Michigan has been fired after body cam video showed him punching a mentally ill 13-year-old teen, who was handcuffed at the time, according to Local 4 News.

The Albion Police Department arrested Da'veon Cieslack on November 24, 2018, after his grandmother called 911, saying that the child was acting unruly. He was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police cruiser.

The newly released video shows Cieslack pleading with officers to be let go.
by Aurora DeStefano in Daily Edition

The review is not always true to the book, as any aggrieved author will testify — and nor, it turns out, is a report always true to the transcript. At least that appears to be the case regarding Special Counsel Robert Hur‘s report after his year-long investigation of Joe Biden‘s handling of classified documents and the transcribed interview Hur did with Biden for the investigation.

Hur’s report provocatively called Biden an “elderly man with a poor memory,” a line that launched a thousand GOP ships whose sails proclaimed Biden was mentally unfit for office. The transcript, however, appears in numerous places to refute Hur’s “gratuitous” assertions in Hur’s own words — especially on page 47.
Story by Aurora DeStefano

“The old story about a snake — nursing it to health and then it bites you?” Teamsters union International Vice President at Large John Palmer told CNN, “You knew it was a snake when you handled it…Donald Trump is what he is.” Trump, Palmer pointed out, has been “anti-union for decades.”

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is being courted by both Trump and President Joe Biden for its endorsement, and the union is playing harder to get than Palmer and some others think is smart.

Teamsters President Sean M. O’Brien has said he is mindful that a segment of his membership likes Trump and so the union needs to show it has ears on both sides. O’Brien wants to communicate “that all our members’ voices are heard and our elected officials do not take for granted the power of the Teamsters vote.” “I think we’re wasting our time,” Palmer said, referring to the withholding, so far, of an endorsement.
Story by HANNAH SARISOHN

NEW YORK – US President Joe Biden’s team slammed a statement allegedly made by former president Donald Trump, where he said that Adolf Hitler “did some good things.”

The statement is not corroborated. It was provided by Trump’s former chief of staff, Gen. John Kelly, in an interview with CNN.

CNN's Jim Sciutto released snippets of his interview with Kelly that he conducted for his new book "The Return of Great Powers: Russia, China, and the Next World War," as well as bits of his interview with former national security adviser John Bolton.

"The former president’s admiration for autocrats has been reported on before, but in comments by Trump recounted to me for my new book, 'The Return of Great Powers,' out Tuesday, Kelly and others who served under Trump give new insight into why they warn that a man who consistently praises autocratic leaders opposed to US interests is ill-suited to lead the country in the Great Power clashes that could be coming, telling me they believe that the root of his admiration for these figures is that he envies their power," Scuitto wrote for CNN.

Scuitto's reporting alleges Trump's praise of Hitler, which Kelly recounted.
By Clare Foran, Brian Fung and Haley Talbot, CNN

The House voted with bipartisan, overwhelming fashion on Wednesday to pass a bill that could lead to a nationwide ban against TikTok, a major challenge to one of the world’s most popular social media apps.

The bill would prohibit TikTok from US app stores unless the social media platform — used by roughly 170 million Americans — is spun off from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. It’s not yet clear what the future of the bill will be in the Senate. The House vote was 352 to 65, with 50 Democrats and 15 Republicans voting in opposition.

Lawmakers supportive of the bill have argued TikTok poses a national security threat because the Chinese government could use its intelligence laws against ByteDance, forcing it to hand over the data of US app users.
Story by Lee Moran

Donald Trump drew mockery online for how he responded to supercuts of his verbal slip-ups, gaffes and forgetfulness that Democrats aired during a congressional hearing this week.

The former president ranted on his Truth Social platform late Tuesday that artificial intelligence “was used by them against me in their videos,” which played during former special counsel Robert Hur’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.

“Can’t do that Joe!” the four-times-indicted Trump said, referring to his successor in the White House, Joe Biden.

But the former president ― who on Monday nicknamed himself “Honest Don” ― offered no evidence to support his claim about AI in the clips, all of which featured real footage.
Story by KATE BRUMBACK, Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case on Wednesday dismissed some of the charges against former President Donald Trump, but many other counts in the indictment remain.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote in an order that six of the counts in the indictment must be quashed, including three against Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee. But the order leaves intact other charges, and the judge wrote that prosecutors could seek a new indictment on the charges he dismissed.

The ruling is a blow for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whose case has already been on shaky ground with an effort to have her removed from the prosecution over her romantic relationship with a colleague. It’s the first time charges in any of Trump's four criminal cases have been dismissed, with the judge saying prosecutors failed to provide enough detail about the alleged crime.
Story by esnodgrass@insider.com (Erin Snodgrass)

Brian Butler, who until now has been known only as "Trump Employee 5" in the federal indictment special counsel Jack Smith brought against Trump last year, went public in a CNN interview this week, sharing new details about the alleged documents cover-up.

Butler told the outlet that he unwittingly helped Trump staffers move 10-15 boxes of sensitive records in June 2022. He has spoken with federal investigators several times since then and his testimony played a central role in the indictment against Trump unveiled last year.

"I think the American people have the right to know the facts, that this is not a witch hunt," Butler said.

Trump is charged with dozens of felony counts related to allegations that he mishandled national defense information and purposefully withheld classified documents from the government. Walt Nauta, a close Trump aide, faces six counts in the case, including obstruction and concealment, while Carlos de Oliveira, the property manager at Mar-a-Lago, is charged with four counts.
John Barnett was said to be engaged in a defamation case against the aviation giant when he was discovered with a gunshot wound to the head.
By Nina Golgowski

A former Boeing employee known for raising concerns about the safety of its planes was found dead just before a deposition he was reportedly scheduled to give against the company.

John Barnett, 62, was discovered with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head outside of a Holiday Inn in Charleston, South Carolina, on Saturday, the Charleston Police Department said in a statement that cited the local county coroner’s office, which separately confirmed his death to HuffPost.

His discovery in a vehicle, just before 10:20 a.m., followed a request for a welfare check at the hotel, police said.

“We understand the global attention this case has garnered, and it is our priority to ensure that the investigation is not influenced by speculation but is led by facts and evidence,” the police department said, declining to comment further due to the ongoing investigation.
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